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CICERO

DE OFFICIIS

ABBRDBBM UMIVBRSITY PBBSS

CICERO

DE OFFICIIS

TKAM8LATED BY

GEORGE B. GARDINER

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36 ESSEX STREET, W.C.
LONDON

1899

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PREFACE

In preparing this translation of the De Oßciis I
have consulted the best literature on the subject,
but I am under special Obligation to the editions
of Müller (188äX Heine (1886), Stickney (1886X
Dettweiler (1890X and Holden (1891). The
metrical versions aie taken from L'Estrange.

My best thanks are due to my old pupil, Mr.
Hugh Grordon, for much valuable help.

INTRODUCTION

The De OJicna is a practical code of morals, a
oompendium of the duties of eveiyday life, in-
tended for the instruction, and accommodated to
the special dicumstanoeSy of young Romans of the
governing class who were destined for a public
career. As a summary of the duties of a gentle-
man addiessed by a father to his son, it may be
compared with Lord Chesterfield's Letters, but it
is written in a very difierent tone. Born in 66
B.c., Marcus served with some distinction under
the successive republican Commanders, and attained
the dignity of consul. He inherited neither the
ambition nor the energy of Cicero, and is best
known as his fetther^s son. At the age of twenty
he was sent to the ^^university'' of Athens to
oomplete his education under Cratippus, the head
of the Peripatetic School. The irregularity of his
life, which we may infer from the scant expressions
of commendation contained in the work itsel^ and
of which we have positive evidence in Cicero's
Letters, was a cause of anxiety to his fetther, and
may have suggested the dedication if not the
oomposition of this treatise on duty.

INTRODUCTION

The De Officiis is the last of the long series
of philoeophical works which Cicero gave to the
World during the closing years of his life, when
condemned to political inaction. After the final
overthrow of the senatorial pariy, when the Con-
stitution of the republic was supplanted by the
will of the ^^ Democratic King" and litÜe scope
was left for individual effort, Cicero had voluntarily
retired from the political arena, and lived for the
most part in the country. With the assassination
of Caesar in March 44 b.c. the hopes of his pariy
rose for a moment only to be dashed to the
ground by the intrigues of Antony. Cicero driven
from Rome ^*by force and godless arms" was
compelled to seek safety in flight, and wandered
aimlessly for a great part of the year fiom one of
his country seats to another. He was distracted.
Death had robbed him of Tullia, the joy of his life,
and he was now an exile from his beloved city.
Onoe more he tums for consolation to active
literary work, and in the composition of this
hortatory treatise completes his patriotic design of
transplanting philosophy from Athens to Rome
and popularising its study among his oountiymen.
The events of the stormy year 44 are refiected in
the acrimonious allusions to contemponiry politics
and the many imperfections of the work in
thought and language.

Cicero had too much of the practical Roman

•• •

INTRODÜCTION

instiiict to r^ard philosophy as an end in itself. |
To him it ^was a prepaiation for the active life of
the orator and statesman, an occupation in his
houn of Idsure, a consolation in misfortune. Like
many coltured Romans he was an Eclectic and
•ought for wisdom whereyer it was to be found.
)n bis scientific method he professed himself an
adherent of the New Academy which denied the
possibility of attaining absolute oertainty in ques-
tions of speculative philosophy. His ^ scepticism,"
however, far ftom being destructiTe, took a positive
diiection and sought to discover the greatest pro-
bability where certainty was impossible. He was
less an agnostic than a seeker affcer tnith. But
his profesdon of the doctrines of the New Aci^-
demy did not prevent him firom embracing the
ethical system of the Stoics to which he was strongly i
attracted by its practical tendency and its sublime \
principle of the soyereignty of virtue. Yet at time&
he rebels against some of their extreme doctrines.
For example, the theory that the wise man is happy
even when suffering pain and is quite independent
of fortune appeared to him so contrary to all
experienoe that here he rather leaned to the view
of the Peripatetics who admitted that within
oertain limits extenud drcumstances were neces-
sary to happiness. In one thing he is consistent^
his determined hostility to th^egoistic and imsodal
doctrines of the Epicureansl which oould hardly

INTBODÜCTION

oommend themselves to a ' genuine Roman who
looked on devotion to the state as the fint duty
of man.

When fint presented to the Romans in the
flecond Century b.c. Stoidsm was stripped of man j
of its pedantic and impoasible dogmaa. ^^ There is
no happiness exoept virtue and no unhappiness
exoept vice ; virtue is a permanent condition which
admits of no increase or decrease ; the non-virtuous
man is absolutely vicious ; all sins are equaUy hein-
ous'' — principles such as these were found to be
worthless when tested by the facts of everyday
life. Take again the picture of the Stoic sage or
Saint : ^^ He is a peifect man, absolutely virtuous,
happy, self-suffident and free. He is indi£ferent
to fortune and misfortune, superior to fear and
remorse, free from sorrow and exoessive joy, and
he maintains that immovable tranquillity of soul
in which conformity with reason oonsists.'' The
Stoics, if challenged, could not point to historical
«xamples of their sage, and even Zeno himself was
not so presumptuous as to claim the title. If the
founder of the school despaired of attaining this
lofiy ideal, what hope was there for the ordinary
man? One by one these purely acadenüc and
üantastic principles were abandoned, ignored, or
modified, and the Stoic sjrstem became less of a
-sdenoe and more of a moral evangel aooommodated
io the facts of life and the frailties of erring mortals.

INTROÖÜCTION

Hie founder of this new Stoicism and its most
eminent preacher in Rome was Panaetius of Rhodea,
the friend of the younger Sdpio and Laelius. If
he taught the Romans philosophy he probably
leamed firom them the practical wisdom which led
him to mitigate the scientific severity of his school.
In his philosophical method he had completely
emandpated himself firom his predecessors, and he
so feur departed from their ethical principles that
they would haidly have allowed him the name of
a Stoic. He maintained that without health,
strength and the means of living, virtue was in-
suffident to make a man happy. While rejecting
the doctrine of insensibility to pain, he did not al-
together repudiate pleasure. He admitted that in 7
certain circumstances promises are not binding. (
In a word, he reJaxed the rifour of the Stoic
System, adapted it to the circumstances of every-
day life and abandoning its thomy dialectic, and
forbidding technicalities, for the first time presented
its doctrines in an degant and attractive Uteraiy
form.

It is on a lost treätise of Panaetius, ^^ Conceming
Moral Obligation,'' that the De Officm is based.
The work of Panaetius was divided into three
books. The first treated of the duties derived
from Honour, the second of those derived firom
Elxpediency, and the third, which was promised but
never appeared, was to have dealt with the conflict

•

INTRODÜCriON

l)et ween these two classes of duties. Cicero supplie»
the missing book, and adds two brief discussions on
the conflict between two honetim and the conflict
between two utiHa. The dominant principle of
the whole work is that Honour or Virtue alone is
usefiil. After explaining in a short introduction
hiB general plan and purpose Cicero treats in hi&
first book of the duties derived from Honour as
yrexhibited in the^four cardinal virtues^^J^ifid-OID»
YjJustice, Fortitude and Self-Command, and oondude»
witEirn~ätiiüate of fheir relative importanoe. The
second book is devoted to the duties arising from
Expediency. The introduction contains a vindica-
tion of the study of philosophy and of the principles-
of the New Academy. This is followed by a
laboured demonstration of the obvious proposition
that man is most useful to man. We obtain the
help of men by inspiring love, respect and confi-
dence, and by the exercise of liberality. The
conflict between the different kinds of Expediency
forms the subject of the last chapter. Thje^.ird
book deals with the conflict between Honour and
Expediency. It opens with a famous passage in
which Cicero compares his own conduct in retire-
ment and solitude with that of Scipio Africanus.
^ He then proves that it is only apparent and not
/ real Expediency that is opposed to Honour, and
lays down as a general rule for the determination
of particular cases, that whatever is honourable is

• •
Xll

INTRODÜCTION

expedient, and that nothing can be expedient that
is not honourable. Even the certainty of escaping
detection should not prompt us to do wrong.
FrJpnHghip ftnH thr ptiH if^ in t ^ rg fi t n n mr timn cause
men to swerve from duty. Examples are then
given of the conflict between apparent Expediency
and Justice, Fortitude and Self-Command. Such
is a brief outline of the oontents of the treatise on
Duty. Under this logical scheme Cicero discusses
the multifarious problems that would naturally
arise in the daily life of the Jurist, the statesman,
or the military Commander, and illustrates bis
argument with copious examples contemporary and
historical. The duties of an administrator, the
obligations of belligerents, the conduct of a law-
suit, the laws of oratory, the art of conversation,
the choice of a profession, the building of a house
— the most diverse questions from the most im-
jportant to the most trivial affecting the conduct
of a Roman gentleman are here proposed and
answered.

It would be interesting to know how much of
the book is the intellectual property of Cicero and
what belongs to Panaetius. Cicero expressly states
that he does not slavishly follow Panaetius, but
that he merely takes from him such materials as
serve bis purpose. But it is significant that where
he professes complete independence and is thrown
upon bis own resources he utterly breaks down.

• ■ •

XUl

INTRODUCTION

The third book is little but a fairago of casuistic
questions compiled from Posidonius and other Stoic
writersy and it is disfiguied by not a few defects in
reasoning, while the two additions to the sdieme
of Panaetius are slight and peifunctoiy. We
shaU therefore not be far wrong if we assign to
Panaetius the logical disposition of the first two
books with its divisions and subdivisionsy and the
genend course of the argument and even some
of the illustrationsy and this assumption is bome
out by the tact that in certain passages of the
De Naiura Deorum Cicero dosely adheres to bis
Greek original Philodemus. But many of the
examples drawn from Roman life and history and
the leflections suggested by them are obviously
from the band of Cicero, and some entire sections
are so thoroughly Roman in character that they
could not have been penned by a Greek writer.
Thus we may safely assume that Cicero is the
author of the chapter on the choice of a profession
(i., 42X of the rules for obtaining glory (ii., 13,14X
and of the passage (ii., 16-24) in which liberality,
offidal purity and fair legislation are recommended
as the best means of winning the favour of the
people.

Since the invention of printing the De Qfficiis
has passed through more than S50 editions, and it
has been praised in extravagant terms by andent
and modern critics. The dder Pliny says it is a

XJV

INTRODUCTION

book to be leamed by heart. St. Ambroee based
on it the fint systematic exposition of Christian
ethics. Melancthon described it as the most per-
fect treatiae on morals in existenoe. Erasmus
believed that its author must have been inspired.
Frederick the Gieat, who pronounoed it ** the best
book on morals that has been or can be written,''
commanded the philosopher Garve to translate it
into Grerman ** that young people might get some
idea of what it reaUy meant ". Curiously the TVaitS
des Devoksisstiü prescribedasamoralcatechismto
candidates for the bcuxalauriat is leUres, Mommsen
in a few truculent phrases dismisses Cioero's ^ philo-
sophical libraiy " as a complete failure.

What then is the value of the book that it has
at aU times been so populär ? It may at onoe be
conoeded that as a scientific treatise the De Officm
has little merit. Composed inlunfavourable cireum-
stanoes by a philosophical dilettante it is superficial,
defective in arrangement, and often disfigured by
incoherence, obscurity, and repetition. On the
other band it is the serious efibrt of one of the
best of the Romans to instruct and elevate his
young countrymen in a time of political chaos and
moral decadence. Here they could find what the
ancient ceremonial religion of the Romans fedled
to supply, an exposition of the scienoe of life, a
treasury of precepts, replete with the wisdom of
generations of thinkers, and enriched with the

INTRODÜCTION

illustrations and leflections of a statesman of ripe
experience. If they looked in vain for profound
3peculation or scientific predsion they at least
found a lofty morality inculcated on eveiy page in
the etemal prindple of the soveieignty of virtue.
To the hbtorian the book is of value as an impor-
tant contribution to our knowledge of the mond
development of the ancient Romans. The chief
literaiy merit of this elegant transcript of Panaetius
is that here the great master of Latin prose caiiied
on his work of creating a philosophical language in
which the highest Roman civilisation was difiiised
throughout the Latin-speaking world, and trans-
mitted through the Middle Ages down to modern
times to enduie even now as a living forc^ in every
country where thoughtfiil men love to tum from
the present and draw inspiration from the souroes
of European cultiue. The philosophy of Cicero
may be but an echo of that of the great Greek
thinkers; it has been largely superseded by the
religious and ethical writings of modern iiterature ;
still it seems rash to brush aside as worthless a
work which has left so distinct an impress on the
mind of the world. Perhaps there is as much
ezaggeration in the blame of Mommsen as in
the praise of Erasmus.

zvi

FIBST BOOK

L — 1. MydcftrsoD^oawtlHit joalisrestiidiedforA

fbll jear ander CnUippos and in a city like Athens,

yoa shonld be well eqnif^ied with the pvinaples and

doctiines of monl philosophj. A master of such

power cannat &il to enriefa yonr mind with ethical

thearies, while the cultnred city in which yoa live will

otfer you many modeis £ot imitation. Howerer, I

have «iways fiHind it best in my own caae to oombine

the study of Latin anJ Greek in oiatoiy as well as in

philoBophy, and I think it would be well fer yoa to

follow my example if you wish to be eqoally at home

in the two langoages. Here I flatter myself I have

rendered good service to my eountTymen, and it is

gratifying to find that not only persons ignonint of

Greek, but even edncated men admit that I have done

something towards developii^ their minds and form-

mg their style. 2. You should therefore continae

your studies ander the first thinker of the age, and

that yoa will eertainly desire to do, so long as you

are not dissatisfied with your progress. But in read-

ing the exposition of my theories which differ li^tl^
1 1

CICERO

from those of the Peripatetics (for we both claim to
be foUowers of Socrates and Plato), whatever opinion
you may form on the subject- matter — and you are
free to judge for yourself — I am confident you will
improve your Latin style. Still I would not have
you think I say this in arrogance. I profess no
mlNnopoly in philosophieal science^ but I fancy I am
wic|tin my rights^ft^laiming as peeuliarly my own a
happy^ perspicuous^ and ornate style — the proper field
of the orator, which I have cultivated all my life. 3.
I urge you, therefore, my dear son, to read with care
not only my orations but also my philosophieal works
which are now almost as numerous as the others.
In the orations there is greater vigour, but the unim-
passioned and temperate style of my essays is no less
worthy of study.

I do not find that any Greek author has yet suc-
ceeded in elaborating at once the forensie and the calm
philosophieal style, with the possible exception of
Demetrius of Phalerum, a keen logician and an orator
who, though he lacks foree, has the charm that marks
the disciple of Theophrastus. What degree of per-
fection I myself have attained in these two styles let
others judge ; if I have £uled, it is not for want of
effort. 4. I indulge the fancy that Plato, had he
choseu to practise oratory, would have made an
impressive and eloquent pleader, and that if Demos-

thenes had foUowed up and pubhshed the doctrines he

CICERO

leamed from Plato he would have been distinguished

for the elegance and splendour of bis diction. I have

the same opinion of Aristotle and Isocrates, but each

of them took such delight in his own pursuit that

he looked coldly on the pursuit of the other.

II. — When I came to choose out of the many things

on which I had it in my mind to write to you, the

theme of this^ my first treatise, 1 ^ected what seemed

to me best suited to your age and to my position as

a finther. Among all the elaborate and exhaustive

discussions of philosophers on serious and important

subjects it appears to me that nothing is more generally

useful than the principles of duty they have given to

the World. All our affairs, public or private, civil or

domestiCy our personal conduct, our social transac-

tions, inevitably fall within the province of duty ; in

the observance of duty lies all that is honourable, and

in the neglect of it all that is dishonourable. 5. This

is the common ground of all philosophers. Would

any one assume the title who had no moral precepts to

offer.^ Yet certain schools utterly distort our con-

ception of duty by their definition of the greatest

good and the greatest evil. He who severs the

highest good from virtue and measures it by interest

and not by honour, if he were true to his principles

and did not at times yield to his better nature, could

not cultivate friendship, justice or liberality ; and no

one can be brave who declares pain the greatest

> K

..w

CICERO

evil, er tempetate who maintaina plea^ure tx> be the
highest good, 6. I bare dealt with these propoaiticns
in another place although they are so obvious as to
require no discussion. Now if these se6ts were only
consistent they would not have a wotd to fiay on the
aubject of duty ; indeed a System of moral principles
\v T ' permanent, invariable, and in harmony with nature,
can only be established by those who maintain that
honour should exclusively or mainly be puiscied for its
own sake. And so we find that this ethical teaching
is pecuUar to the Stoics, the Academics, and the
Peripatetics, since the doctrines of Aristo, Pyrrhe
and Erillus have long since been exploded ; yet even
they would be entitled to treat of this qaestion if they
had recognised a difFeretice in the value of tbings and
given US some clue to duty. In the present inquuy,
then, I shall mainly foUow the Stoies. I shall not
simply echo them, but, as my custom is, I shall use
them as my sources, and exercise my own discretion
in deciding how and what to bonow.

7. As duty is the subject of the whole of this
treatise, it seems proper to begin with a definij^on_
of the term, a point which Panaetius has curiously
omitted. The definition of terms must in &ct fbnn
the basis of every scientific exposition if the soope
of the argument is to be clearly understood.

IIL« — ^Every question of duty has two sides: the
one relatiug to the sovereign good, the other to the

CtCEftO

pi'ftetieal tules by which we may goTen^ oat oondaet
in every detail The folk>wing are examples of ovet
fifst elass of questions. Are all duties perft6ct? Is
onef duty more important than another ? and so forth.
The rules of eondact are indeed related to the higheet*
good, bat the relation is not quite evident^ because
they bear more directly an the regulaticm of our daily
life ! these are the duties I purpose to expoimd- in the >
present treatise. 8. Duties may also be dirided into
what are called th e ordinary and the perfect. Per-
fect duty I think we migfat cal l the rieht since the
Oreeks call it KaropOnfjLa, while they call ordinary duty
KoS^Kov. Perfect duty they define as that which is

ri ghts brdinat^duty as that for doinfy which an ade>

luate re a«»T^ ^^ti hf> giv^n

9. According to Panaetius, in forming a resolution

we have three things to consider. Is the subject of

deliberation honourable or dishonourable ? This is a

problem which often distmcts our minds with oon-

traiy opinions. In the second place we east about

and reflect whether the thing will procura eomfort

and enjoyment) wealth and abundance, position

and power, whereby we may prbfit oarsel^ed and

those who are dear to us. This second question

tums entirely on expediency. The third is con-

cemed with the conflict between the honourable

and that which appears to be expedient. When

interest drags us one way and honour calls us back,

CICERO

the mind is bewildered and distracted with doubt.
lO. In this Classification two points are omitted^ a
serious defect in a logical division. We not only ask
whether the contemplated act is honourable or dis-
honourable» but we seek to detennine the degrees of
honour and expediency. Consequently the triple
division of Panaetius must be abandoned in favour of
a division into five parts. I must first speak of the
honourable under two heads, then similarly of the
expedient, and finally of the conflict between thein.

IV. — 11. Animals of every species are endowed
with the instinct of self-preservation which leads
them to preserve life and limb, to avoid what seems
hurtful^ and to seek and provide the necessaries of
life, such as food and shelter. The reproductive
instinct and the love of ofispring are also universal.
But there is a wide gulf between man and beast.
Swayed by sense alone^ the beast lives in the present^
heedless of the past, or future. But man endowed
with reason perceives the connection of things, marks
their causes and effects, traces their analogies, links
the future with the past, and^ surveying without efFort
the whole course of life, prepares what is needful for
the joumey. 12. Nature with the aid of reason
likewise binds man to man, unites them by the bond
of language and of social life, inspires them with a
strong love of oflfspring, and impels them to multiply
the occasions of meeting and consorting with their

■A' i"^> 'v<

' i '

CICERO

fellows. These are the motives that incite a man to
procure a comfortable livelihood not only for him-
self but for his wife and children and all whom he
cherishes and is bound to support ; and this responsi-
bility rouses his energies and braces him for work.

^^ Thir ^'*Ttint tive facu \^Y f^ """" '" ^'" **"

drnirr tnjijyrstigfttt thr; tnith Thnn, when free from

pressmg duties and cares, we are eager to see or hear, /> ^. ■*' \ft-

or leam something new, ^d we think our happiness '

incomplete unless we $iudy the mysteries and the 4^,»>v^^

marvels of the universe/ From this it is evident that , y

what is true, simple, ^d pure, is most in harmony

with human nature. /With the instinct of curiosity is

allied the desire of independence ; a well-constituted

eharacter will bow jto no authority but that of a

master or a just and legitimate ruler who aims at the

public good : hence arises fortitude or indifFerence

to the accidents of fortune. 1 4. How precious should

we deem the gift of reason since man is the only

living being that has a sense of order^ decorum and

moderation in word and deed. No other creature

is touched by the beauty^ grace and symmetry of

visible objeets; and the human mind transferring

these conceptions from the material to the moral

World recognises that this beauty, harmony and

Order are still more to be maintained in the sphere of

purpose and of action ; reason shuns all that is un-

becoming or unmanly, all that is wanton in thought

' .^^
9..^'"^'^

(

»/.

CICERO

or deed. These are the constituent elements of the
conception of honour which is the subject of onr
inquiry : honour even when cast into the shade loses
none of its beauty ; honour, I say, though praised by
no öne, is praiseworthy in itself.

V. — 1 5. You have now before yon, my dear Marcus,
the very form, I may say^ the face, of honour ; and,
as Plato says of Wisdom, could we but see it with
oür eyes, what a divine passion it would inspire !
Honour Springs from one of four sources. It consists
in sagacity and the perception of the truth, or in the
maintenance of human society, respect for the rights
of others^ and the faithful observance of contracts^ or
in the greatness and strength of a lofty and invincible
spirit, or finally in that order and measure in word and
deed which constitute temperance and self-command.
The cardinal virtues are indeed inseparably connected,
yet each of them is the source of definite classes of
duties. Wisdom or prudence, for example, the first
in our division, is concemed with the investigation
and discovery of the truth ; this is its peculiar function.
1 6. He is justly considered the wisest and the most
prudent of men who penetrates furthest into the
truth of things and has the keenest and swiftest eye
to see and unfold thelr principles. Truth is therefore
the material on which this virtue works, the sphere
in which it moves. 17. The function of the other

virtues is to provide and maintain all that is necessary

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for our dAily life, to stfeng^hen the bonds of Inniian
Society^ and to evoke that great and noble spirit whicb
en)arg«s onr resources and seeureis advHntages fbv
otnfselyes and onr kin^ but is even more conspicuous
by its indifierence to tbese objects. Order, don-
sisftency, moderation and similar qualities fall under
this category and are not so much speculative as
aetfre virtues ; for it is by applying measnre and
lauf to the affairs of llfe that we shall best observe
honour and decorum.

VI. — 18. Of the four parts into which -vre have
dlvided the conception of honour, the first, consisting
in the investigation of the truth, touches human nature
most nearly. We are all carried away by the passion
for study and leaming; here we think it noble to
excel and count It an evil and a shame if we stumble
or'stray, if we are ignorant or credulous. In follow-
ing this natural and noble instinet there are two
errors to be avoided ; in the first place we must not
mistake the unknown for the known and blindly give
it our assent ; to escape this error, as all must wish to
do, it Is necessary to devote time and trouble to the
consideration of every question. 19. In the second
place it is wrong to waste our energies on dark, thomy,
and barren studies. If we avoid these errors and
bestow our toil and care on subjects that are honour-
able and worthy of study, we shall deserve nothing
but praise. Thus Sulpicius was once distingtiished in

'^ ^.

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astronomy as our contemporary Sextus Pompeius is

in mathematics ; many have made their name in logic,

V/> ^'^A oaore in civil law; but though all these branches of

knowledge are concemed with the investigation of
^ the truth, it would be wrong to be diverted from

V'> • active work by any such pursuit. The worth of

virtue lies in action, yet we have many times of rest,
permitting us to retum to our fistvourite pursuits : and
even without our efibrt, our beating, restless mind
will keep us ever at study. Now every thought and
Operation of the mind is employed in deciding about
things that concem our honour and happiness or in
pursuing knowledge and leaming. So much for
the first source of duty.

VII. — 20. Of the three remaining the most ex-
tensive in its scope is the principle which knits
together human society and cements our common
interests. It has two parts —justice, the brightest
of the virtues, the touchstone of worth, and the
cognate virtue of beneficence which may also be
called kindness or liberality.

The Hrst duty that justice enjoins is to do no

violence except in self-defence, to create no privilege

in public rights, and to keep for our private enjoy-

ment only what is ours. 21. Private property has no

place in the order of nature ; it originates in ancient

occupation, as when people take possession of vacant

land, or in the right of conquest, or in a law, a con-

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tract^ an agreement^ an allotment ; hence we say the

land of Arpinum belongs to the Arpinates^ the Tus-

culan land to the Tusculans ; and the delimitation of

private estates foUows the same principle. Now

since by this partition the individual secures as

personal property a part of that which at fh-st be-

longed to all^ he ought to rest content with his

share : if he covets more^ he breaks the laws of

human society. 22. But since our life^ to quote the

noble words of Plato^ has not been given to us for ,

ourselves alone (for our country claims a share, our , **./c

friends another), and since, as the Stoics hold, all the /ifc^r.-^*'^^^'

products of the earth are destined for our use and we •' ^*' .^ "^v

are bom to help one another, we should here take

nature for our guide and contribute to the public

good by the interchange of acts of kindness, now

giving, now receiving, and ever eager to employ our

talents, industry and resources in strengthening the

bonds of human society. 23. The foundation of

justice is good faith — in other words, consistency and

truthfulness in regard to promises and compacts.

Though it may seem rather forced, we make bold to

follow the Stoics who are keen students of etymology

and to assume that ^es, fi&ith, is so called because a

promise Jiat is fulfiUed. There are two kinds of in-

justice : the positive injustice of the aggressor, and

the negative ii^ustice of neglecttng to defend those

who are wronged. To attack a man unjustly under

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the inflaent^e of anger or some other passion is to lay

hands npon a comrade ; not to defend the oppressed

and shield them from injustice^ is as great a crime

as to desert our parents, firiends^ or country. 24.

Premeditated wrongs are often the result of appre-

hensiön^ the Aggressor fearing that he will be the

victim if he does not strike the first blow. But it is

ehiefly for the purpose of satisfying some desire that

men com mit an injury ; and the commonest motive

is the love of money.

VIII. — 25. In seeking riehes, our object is to

procure the necessities and the luxuries of life. But

men of ambition look on money as a means of

aequiring influenae and of attaching others to their

interests. Not long ago M . Crassus asserted that tio

man could aspire to political eminence unless he had

a fortune on the interest of which he could support

a whole army. Magnificence, luxury, elegance^ and

plenty are no less seductive. Such is the origin

of the insatiable thirst for wealth. Not that we have

any fault to find with the innocent accumulation of

property ; it is the unjust acquisition of it of which

we must beware. 26. But the strongest temptation

to forget the claims of justice is bom of the passion

for military and political distinction. Ennius says:

" No holy bond^ no faith is kept, if a kingdom is the

prize," but bis words have a wider application. Where

the places are few and rivalry is keen the struggle

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«oflen beoomes' so fierce that it is dHficuIt to respect

> the flocaped rights of sooiety. Of this we hare recently

had proof in the audacity of C. Cliesar who ov^rthrew

all tbe laws of heaven and earth to gain supreme

power, the object of his mad ambitkm. Alas ! it is

just the stoutest heartSj the brightest intellectB^ that

are fired with the passion for office and command^

€pr power and glory. Let us then be all the more

watchful not to conunit the like excess. 27. But

•tbere is a great diiTerence betweea a wrong comr

mitted ander the influence of some brief and transieat

•paasion and one that is wilfiil and premeditated A

wrong committed ander a sudden impulse is not so

culpable as a wrong that is planned in cold bloodi

Bot I must now leave the subject of positive injustice.

IX. — 28* In neglecting the duty of defending

others> men are influenced by varioas motives. They

ave relvictant to make enemies: they grudge tbe

trouble and expense; they are deterred by indiffer-

enee, indoienee^ and apathy ; or they are so fettered

by their own pursuits and occupations as to abandon

those whom it is their daty to protect. Perhaps Plato

does not go fiir enough when he aays that philosophers

deserve to be called justj inasmuch as they are em*

ployed in the investigation of the truth and profess a

sovereign contempt for those objeets which most men

porsae with ardour and for which they wiU even draw

the sword and fight to the last. In wronging no on^

CtCEftÖ

the influenae of anger or some other pftssion is to lay
hands npon a comrad^ ; not to defend the oppressed
and flhield them from injustiee^ is as great a crime
as to desert our parents^ firiends^ or conntry. 24.
Premeditated wrongs are often the result of appre-
hensiön^ the Aggressor fearing that he will be the
victim if he does not strike the first blow. But it is
ehiefly for the purpose of satisfying some desire that
men comniit an injury ; and the commonest motive
is the love of money.

VIII. — 25. In seeking riches, our object is to
procure the neeessities and the luxuries of life. But
men of ambition look on money as a means of
acquiring infiuence and of attaehing others to their
interests. Not long ago M . Crassus asserted that no
man could aspire to political eminenee unless he had
a fortune on the interest of which he could Support
a whole army. Magnificence, luxury^ elegance, and
plenty are no less seductive. Such is the origin
of the insatiable thirst for wealth. Not that we have
any fault to find with the innocent accumulation of
property ; it is the unjust acquisition of it of which
we must beware. 26. But the strongest temptation

to forget the claims of justice is born of the passion w ' >^:

for military and political distinction. Ennius says : « ^- «

** No holy bond^ no faith is kept, if a kingdom is the

prize," but his words have a wider application. Where| ^ ^^

the places are few and rivalry iä keen the struggle^ '^^ «

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oüen beoomes- so fierce that it is difficult to respect

tht aacaped rights of sodety. Of this we hare recently

h$d proof kl the audadity of C. Cliesar who ov^rthrew

all the laws of heaven and eaith to gain supreme

^wer^ the object of bis mad ambitioo. Alas! it is

just the stoutest hearts^ the brightest iatellects, that

are fired with the passion for office and command^

fpr power and glory. Let us then be all the more

watchful not to <;onuiiit the like excess* 27. But

•there is a great diiTerence betweea a wrong com^

mitted ander the influeoee of some brief and transieat

•paasion and one that is wilfiil and premeditated« A

wrong committed ander a sudden impalse is not so

culpable as a wrong that is planned in cold blood«

Bot I must now leaye the subject of positive injustice*

IX. — 28. In neglecting the duty of defeoding

othersi men are inflaenced by varioas motives. They

ace reloctant to make enemies; they gradge the

trouble and expense ; they are deterred by indiffer^

enee, indolenGe^ and apathy ; or they are so fettered

by their own parsuits and ocscupations as to abandon

those wbom it is their daty to protect. Perhaps Plato

does not go far enoagh when he aays that philosophers

deserre to be called justj inasmuch as they are ein-*-

ployed in the investigation of the truth and profess a

sovereign contempt for those objects which most men

porsue with ardour and for which they wiU even draw

the sword and fight to the last. In wronging no one

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they doubtless realise a negative kind of justice, but

1 |C ^ they fail in their duty when they beeome so absorbed

'^ / in study as to abandon those whom they ought to de-

fend. For the same reason he thinks they will not,

except under pressure, participate in public affairs. It

would be more natural if they came forward un-

solicited. For even an action intrinsically right is

only just in so far as it is voluntary. 29* Some men,

from excessive devotion to their private afTairs, or

from a sort of misanthropy, say they prefer to mind

their own business, and think that in so doing they

wrong no one. They thus escape the one kind of

injustice only to rush into the other ; in fact they are

traitors to society because they contribute nothing of

their zeal, their energy, or their wealth, to the public

good. Having now established the two kinds of

injustice with their respective causes, and having

determined the constituent Clements of that virtue,

we can readily decide, unless we are blinded by seif-

love, what is our duty in particular circumstances. 30.

For it is difficult to meddle with other people's affairs,

though our friend Chremes in Terence says : "Nothing

is indifferent to me that touches man ". It is no less

true that we are most keenly alive to our own success

and our own misfortune ; the good and the evil that

happen to others we see as it were across a wide

fi^ulf, and we cannot judge of our neighbours as we

judge of ourselves. It is therefore a good rule never

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to do a thing if we are in doubt whether it is right

or wrong ; righteousness shines with a lustre of its

own ; doubt is the Symptom of a vicious purpose.

X. — 31. But there are many occasions when actions

that appear eminently worthy of the just man or the

good man^ as we eoramonly say^ change their com-

plexion and present a different aspeet. It may at

times be just not to return what is entrusted to our

care^ not to keep a promise, or to violate the laws

of veracity and honour. In such cases we should go

back to the principles which I laid down at the outset^

as the foundations of justice; do evil to no p'^^» r

3ifork ^<nr »hf> pflTnTnnn gnfrdi^Whrn these principles

are modified by circumstances, our duty likewise

changes and is not fixed and invariable. 32. Thus

the fulfilment of a promise or agreement may be pre-

judicial either to him to whom it was made or to

him who made it. Take an instance from mythology.

If Neptune had not kept fiiith with Theseus^ Theseus

would not have been berefl of his son Hippolytus.

The third of his three wishes^ we are told, was the

death of Hippolytus; this he conceived in a fit of

rage^ and when it was fiilfilled he was plunged in the

deepest grief. If you promise a fnend something

which would be hurtful to him, your promise is not

binding ; or if the thing would do more härm to him

than good to you, it is no breach of duty to prefer

the greater to th^ lesser good. Suppose you arranged

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tD appear in coivt in support ot a friend aad mean-

while yoiur son feil seziausly iU^ you would not be

obliged 'to keep your promise ; nay, your ^eieod would

be more culpable than you if he complained of being

afaandoned. Again it is obvious that we are not

boujid to fulfil promises extorted by fear or won from

US by craft ; indeed these obligations are in nuMt

^»ses caancelled by tbe deoiaions of the praetors^ or

by particttlar enactments. S^. A common form of

injustioe is chicanery^ that is, an over-subtle, in £ftct a

franduletit construcUon of the law. Heiice the hack-

neyed prorerb : " The gi^eatest right is the greatest

wTong *\ Public men are often guilty of this ofTence.

I shall illustrate what I mean by two examples.

Once a gen^ral, haring concluded a truoe with the

enemy for thirty days, mvaged his tetritfwy by night,

beeause, he said, the tnice applied to the day but

not to the night. The conduct of a countryman

of ourti is equally discreditable ; whether it was

Q. Labeo or some one eise I cannot teil, for I go

merely by hearsay. The story is that he was ap-

pointed by the S^iate arbitrator on a boundai*y

question between the Nolans and the Neapolitans^

and on reaching the spot advised the parties sepamtely

not to be greedy or grasping and rather to retire than

to push forward. They consented, and a belt of

neutral land was left between them. So he fixed

their frontiers in accordance with their own sue^

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gestion, the unclaimed tract he awarded to the Roman

people. This surely is deceit and not arbitration.

It should be a lesson to us to avoid such despicable

trickery.

XI. — We have also our duties towards those by

whom we have been wronged; for retribution and

punishraent have their limits. Perhaps it would

suffice if the aggressor repented the injury he had

done. His expression of regret would keep him from

repeating the offenee and would deter others from

injustice. 34. In national alfairs the laws of war

must be strictly observed. There are two methods

of settling a dispute, discussion and force ; the one is

eharacteristic of man^ the other of beasts ; it is only

when we cannot employ conciliation that we are

justified in resorting to force. 35. Our one object

in making war should be that we may live in peace

unmolested ; when victory is gaia^ we should spare

those who have not been cruel or baltiMous. Our

forefathers enfranchised the Tusculans^ the Aequians^

the Volscians, the Sabines, and the Hemicans, while

they razed to the ground Carthage and Numantia.

I wish they had spared Corinth, but I think they had

some good reason for what they did, most probably

the strength of the place which they feared might

some day tempt the Corinthians to renew the war.

In my opinion peace should be our constant aim if

there is no danger of treachery. Had my voice been
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heard^ we should still possess^ if not the best^ at least
some form of govemment, but now we have none. It
is our duty not only to be mercifiil to the conquered,
but, even though the battering-ram has shattered
their walls, to shelter those who lay down their arms
and seek the protection of the Commander. Justice
to our enemies was so scrupulously observed among
our countrymen that those who accepted the Sub-
mission of States or tribes conquered in war, became
their patrons by ancient usage. 36. The laws of
war are religiously recorded in the fetial code of the
Roman people. International law teaches that a war
is just only if it is duly declared after a formal de-
mand for satisfaction has been made. (Popilius was
govemor of a province and the son of Cato was
serving in his army as a recruit. Popilius having
decided to disband the legiou to which he belonged,
discharged young Cato with the rest of the men.
But he remained in the army from love of fighting ;
Cato then wrote to Popilius asking him to bind his
son by a second military oath if he allowed him to
continue in active Service : because through voidance
of the former oath he had no right to fight with the
enemy. Such was the rigour then observed in the
conduct of war.) 37. A letter is extant which Marcus
Cato the eider wrote to his son Marcus while he was
serving in Macedonia in the campaign against Perses.

He had heard that his son had been discharged by

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the consul. He therefore wamed him not to en-
goge in battle because one who was not legally a
soldier had no right to draw the sword against the
enemy.

XII — Here I would call attention to the euphem-
iam by which kostisy a stranger, is substituted for
ptrduelüsj the striet term for an enemy under arms.
Hostis in the olden time had the same sense as
peregrinvs has now. We have proof of this in two
passages from the Twelve Tables : ^'or a day fixed
cum hoste, mih a Siran ger** and "against a stratiger ^
adversus hostem the right of ownership is inalienable ".
I ask you, Could charity go further than to describe
by so gentle a name the man with whom you are
waging war ? But the word is now so debased by
usage that it has dropped the meaning of stranger
and is restricted to the teehnical sense of an enemy
under arms. 38. In every struggle for empire and
glory we must be govemed by the motives which
I have just mentioned as the legitimate causes of
war. Still the asperity of the confiict should be
tempered by the noble motive of imperial glory.
As in civil strife our attitude is different to a personal
enemy and to a rival — with a rival the struggle is for
Office and position, with an enemy for life and honour
— ^so with the Celtiberians and Cimbrians we fought
as with personal enemies, not for empire but for

existence ; while it was for empire that we waged

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an act of treachery under the cloak of virtue. But
I must not enlarge.
^ ^ XIV. — 4-2. My next subject is beneficence or liber-

/ J^^' ^ &Hty, the most human of all the virtues, but one which

often demands the exercise of caution. We must give
heed that our bounty is not injurious either to those
whom we intend to benefit or to others, that it does
not exceed our means, and that in each case it is
proportioned to the worth of the recipient. This last
principle is the foundation of justice, the Standard by
which all these acts of kindness must be measured.
If we offer to another under the guise of kindness
what will do him härm, we are not to be accounted
beneficent or liberal men but dangerous hypocrites ;
and if we härm one man in order to be liberal to
another we are quite as unjust as if we were to
appropriate our neighbour s goods. 43. Many men,
however, especially if they are ambitious of honour
and glory^ lavish on one the spoils of another, ex-
pecting to obtain credit as benefactors, if only they
enrich their friends by fair means or by foul. Such
conduct is absolutely opposed to duty. Let us there-
fore remember to practise that kind of liberality which
will be beneficial to our friends and injurious to no
one. Neither Sulla nor C. Caesar deserves to be
called liberal for transferring property from its right-
ful owners into the hands of strangers. For without
justice there is no liberality.

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44. The second precaution of which I spoke is
that our bounty should not exceed our means.
Those who seek to be more generous than their
circumstances permit, offend in two ways. First
they wrong their kin by making over to strangers
the wealth which in justice they should rather
give or bequeath to those of their own blood. In
the second place the passion for plunder and dis-
honest gain is almost inseparable fi*om this foolish
generosity which must ever replenish the source
of bounty. It is also manifest that the conduct
of men who are not really generous but only
ambitious of the name often Springs £rom vainglory
rather than from a pure motive. Such hypocris^, I
hold, savours more of deceit than of liberality or
honour.

45. My third rule is that we should carefuUy
weigh the merits ofthose whom we intend to benefit.
LfCt US look to the character of the recipient, his
disposition towards us, our common interests and
social relations, and the obligations under which we
lie to him; if he unites all these claims on our
kindness, we cannot look for more ; if some are
lacking, the number and importance of the others
must tum the scale.

XV. — 46. As those with whom we live are neither

perfect nor ideally wise, and as we may consider our-

selves fortunate if we find in them even a shadow of

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virtue, it is evident that we should neglect no one
who exhibits the slightest traee of worth, and should
respeet and cherish otber men in proportion as they
are adomed with these gentler virtues, moderation,
self-command^ and this very justice of which I have
spoken so much. The spirit of fortitude is generallj
too impetuous in the good man who has not attained
moral perfection and ideal wisdoih ; it is the gentler
virtues that seem to be more within bis reacb. So
much for the cliaracter of the recipient of our bounty.
47. As to the affection he may cherish towards us,
our first duty is to be kindest to bim who loves us
best ; but we should not test bis love, as youths would
do, by it& passionate fervour but rather by its strength
and constancy. If, however, we are debtors^ and our
duty is not to bestow but to requite a lEavour, it
behoves us to give the greater diligence ; for no duty
is more imperative than gratitude. 48. But if, as
Hesiod enjoins, we ought to give back with interest^
if possible, what we have borrowed, how should we
ans wer the challenge of kindness.^ Must we not
Imitate those fertile lands which yield even more than
they receive ? For if we do not grudge to serve those
from whom we look for recompense, with what zeal
should we not requite favours already received?
Liberality is of two kinds ; it gives and it retums ; it
is in our own power to give or not to give, but to

requite a favour is for the good man a sacred obliga-

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tion provided he can do so without injustice. 49. It
is necessary, however^ to discriminate between benefits
received; and it is clear that the greatest benefit
deserves the greatest gratitude. But we must always
think of the spirit, the devotion and the aifection
that have prompted the deed. Many blind and
thoughtless men are carried away by a morbid phil-
anthropy or by fits of generosity as sudden as the
wind. But benefits conferred with judgment, de-
liberation, and consistency^ stand upon a higher plane.
Whether we bestow or requite a fistvour, duty requires^
if other things are equal, that we should first help
those who need our help most ; but that is not the
way of the world. For men are most eager to serve
one from whom they expect the greatest reward even
though he needs no help.

XVI. — 50. The surest means of strengthening the
bonds of Society is to bestow the greatest kindness
on those who are nearest to us. Let us go to the

root of the matter and seek in nature the first begin-

nings of society. The first is seen in the brotherhood

of the entire human race. The bonds of connection

are thought and speech, the instruments of teaehing

and leaming^ of communication^ discussion^ and

reasoning, which unite man to man and bind them

together by a kind of natural league. Nothing lifts

US so far above the brutes ; in some animals we re-

cognise courage^ as in the horse and the lion, yet, as

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animals have neither thought nor speech, we never
ascribe to them justice, equity or goodness. 51.
Such is the universal brotherhood of mankind. Here
the common right to all those things which nature
has destined for the common use of man must be
kept inviolate ; and while property assigned by Statute
or by civil law must be held under the conditions
established by these laws, we may learn from the
Greek proverb, '^ among friends all things in common/*
how to regard all other property. The goods com-
mon to all men are, I think, defined in the words of
Ennius, which though restricted by him to one in-
stance are generally true : —

To put a wandering traveller in *s way,
Is but to light one candle with another :
I *ve ne'er the less, for what I give.

This one example teaches us to grant even to a

stranger what it costs us nothing to give. 52, Hence

the common maxims : *' Keep no one from a running

stream " ; ''Let any one who pleases take a light from

your fire *' ; " Give honest ad vice to a man in doubt,"

things which we receive with profit and give without

loss. Therefore while we enjoy these blessings we

must always contribute to the common weal. But

since the resources of individuals are limited and the

number of the needy is infinite, we must think of the

Standard of Ennius : '' None the ]ess it shines for him/'

and so regulate this general liberality that we may

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continue to have the means of being generous to our
firiends.

XVII. — 53. Human society may embrace a wider
or a narrower circle. Apart firom the tie of our
common humanity^ there is the closer alliance of
those who belong to the same nation or tribe and
speak the same language. This is a strong bond of
Union. A more intimate relationship subsists between
members of the same State. Fellow-citizens have
many things in common ; the forum^ the sanctuaries^
colonnades and streets, laws and privileges, the courts
of law, the right of sufTrage^ social and friendly ties^
and the many reciprocal relations of commerce. Still
closer is the union of kinsmen ; it is human society
in miniature. 54. As all living creatures are en-
dowed with the reproductive instinct, the first bond
of Union is that between husband and wife^ next that
between their children ; then comes the unit of the
family and Community of goods. Here we find the
germ of the city, the nursery, I may say, of the State.
Next in order are the relations of brothers and sisters
and of first cousins and their children who^ cramped
in the one home, go forth as it were to found new
colonies. Marriages, with their relationships, foUow
and kinsmen multiply. In this propagation and its
aftergrowth states have their origin. For the ties
of common blood unite men in kindness and love.

55. It is a great thing to have one fiimily history^ a

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common worship^ and a common tomb. But when
good men of like character are joined in friendship^
there we find the noblest and the strongest miion.
Honour^ on which I love to dwell, attracts us even in
others and kindles a fellow-feeliug for those whose
character it adoms. 56. Of all the virtues justice
and liberality have the greatest charm, the greatest
power to excite our love for those in whom they seem
to reside ; and the strongest bond of affection is the
moral sympathy which unites the good. When two
^ ^i Ai. > *«/*^T^ j^^jj have the same tastes and the same desires^ each

loves his neighbour as himself, and the ideal of
Pythagoras is realised ; the two friends become one.
Another strong bond of sympathy is the interchange of
Services; so long as they are mutual and acceptable^
they bind us together in a lasting alliance.

57. Now if you survey in your mind all the social
relations, you will find that none is more important,
none closer^ than that which links each one of us
with the State. We love our parents, we love our
children, our kinsmen, and friends, but all our loves
are lost in love of country. Who would not die for
her sake if by his death he could do her good } All
the more execrable are the fiends who have mangled
her body with every outrage, who have laboured and
still are labouring to compass her min. 5S. But if
we compare and contrast the rival claims to our

£riendly Offices, we must assign the first rank to our

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country and our parents to whom we owe so many

benefits ; the next to our children and our whole

household^ who look to us alone and have no other

refuge. Next in order are those kinsmen with whom

we live in harmony, and with whom we are so often

united by common interests. It is they who have

the strongest claim on us for material help ; but close

intimacy, the interchange of thought and speech,

of exhortation, consolation, even of rebuke — these

things thrive best in the soil of friendship, and the

happiest friendship is that which is cemented by

moral sympathy.

XVIII. — 59. In apportioning all these Services we

shall have to consider what each man needs most

and what he can or cannot procure without our aid.

Thus it will often be found that the claims of

necessity are stronger than the claims of kin^ and

that our duty to one man is more pressing than our

duty to another ; you would sooner help your neigh-

bour to gather in his com than your brother or your

friend ; but if a case were on trial^ you would rather

plead for a kinsman or a friend than for a neighbour.

Such are the circumstances we must keep in view

in all our moral calculations if we would be good

aocountants of duty^ skilled in adding and subtract-

ing^ in striking a balance, and finding what is due to

this one and to that. 60. Physicians, generals and

orators, however proficient in the rules of their art,

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achieve no great success unless they unite theory
with practice; so there is no lack of precepts on
duty such as I now lay down, but it is experienoe
and practice above all that are required in a matter
so important. Perhaps I have said enough to show
how honour, the source of duty, originates in the
rights and obligations of human sodety. 61. Of the
four Cardinal virtues from which honour and duty
are derived it is evident that the most imposing in
the eyes of the world is fortitude, that great and
sublime spirit which scorns the chances of life. So^
upon occasion, it is taunts like these that first come
to our lips.

Young men in show, but wenches in your hearts :
While Cloelia plays the brave and acts your parts,
You 're for exploits that cost no sweat, nor blood.

So, when we contemplate the brave and noble

deeds of some great spirit, we instinctively grow

eloquent in their praise. Valour affbrds a field for

eloquence in Marathon, Salamis, Plataeae, Thermo-

pylae and Leuctra ; valour animated our own Codes,

the Decii, Cn. and F. Scipio, M. Marcellus, and

others without number, and valour has made of the

Roman people a nation of heroes. The military

costume which adoms almost all our statues is a

fiirther proof of our passion for glory in war.

XIX. — 62. But if this high spirit which shines in

toil and danger is divorced from justice and fights

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for private ends, and not for the public good, it is

anything but a virtue : it is a brutal vice^ repulsive

to all OUT finer feelings. Fortitude is therefore ad- ^^^J^^

mirably defined by the Stoics as the virtue whieh

fights for equity, and no one ever acquired true

glory whose reputation for fortitude was founded

on craft and cunning, for there can be no honour

without justice.

6S. Plato has a fine reilection on this subject :

'' Knowledge without justice is to be accounted

cunning rather than wisdom, and even intrepidity, if

prompted by personal ambition, and not by public

spirit, does not deserve the narae of fortitude :

audacityis its name". I maintain then that fortitude

or strength of character must be joined with good-

ness and candour, love of truth and hatred of deceit :

qualities which are the very marrow of justice. 64.

Unhappily this elevation or greatness of mind is the

soll in which obstinacy and the inordinate love of

pre-eminence most readily take root. Plato teils us

that the Lacedaemonians as a nation are consumed

with the passion for victory ; so it is with the man of

strong character, his ambition is to rule, nay, to rule

alone. But it is difficult for those who covet such

pre-einlnence to maintain that fair spirit which is

essential to justice. Thus it happens that men of

ambition neither listen to reason nor bow to public

and legitiraate authority, but chiefly resort to cor-

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ruption and intrigue in order to obtain supreme

power and to be masters by force rather than equals

by law. But the greater the difficulty the greater

the glory. For in every circumstance of life justice

must be respected. 65. It follows that the title of

brave and magnanimous men belongs not to those

who commit but to those who repel injustice. The

true fortitude of the sage places honour^ which above

all things it instinctively pursues, not in glory but

in conduct, and aspires to be first in deed rather

than in name. For the slave of the capricious and

ignorant mob cannot be reckoned a man of power.

Yet it is the loftiest spirits that are most easily led

into temptation by the passion for glory : but now we

are on slippery ground, for where will you find the

man who does not aspire to glory as the natural reward

of the hardships he has undergone and the perils he

has encountered ?

XX. — 66. Fortitude has two characteristics. The

«^ c<- first is indiiFerence to outward circumstanees. It is

founded on the conviction that nothing is worthy

of the admiration, the desire, or the effbrt of man

except what is honourable and deeorous and that he

must surrender neither to his fellow-men, to passion,

nor to fortune. The second, the natural outcome of

this moral teroperament, is the ability to perform

actions which are not only great and useful, but

arduous, laborious^ and fraught with danger to life

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and all that makes life worth living. 67. Of the two
parts of fortitude the latter is brilliant and imposing,
as well as useful, but the fonner embodies the principle
which makes great men and noble spirits that laugh at
fortune. To regard honour as the only good and to
be free from passion are the two fruits of this virtue.
It is a mark of moral courage to make light of those
objects which dazzle the world, and steadily to despise
them on fixed and settled principles, but it demands
a character not less strong and stable to bear the
bitter sorrows of life and the eountless blows of for-
tune without departing from our natural tranquilÜty
or sacrificing the dignity of the sage. 68. Further, it
would be inconsistent to master fear but be mastered
by desire, to conquer hardship but be conquered by
pleasure. Let us guard against these errors and
above all shun the love of money, for there is no
surer sign of a narrow, grovelling spirit, just as there
is nothing more honourable or noble than to despise
what fortune refuses and to devote what she bestows
to beneficence and liberality. As I said above, we
ought to beware of the passion for glory, for it robs
US of liberty, which brave men should pursue with
all their might, and we should not seek command or
rather upon occasion decline it or lay it down. 69.
Again, we must put away every emotion — desire,
fear, grief, joy, anger — in order that we may enjoy

the tranquillity and composure of mind which brings
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^ ^fij^-^ in its train moral stability and self-respect. It is the

love of this tranquiUity that has led so many men in
^ all ages to withdraw from public affairs and take

^^^^^;, ^^wäM"*^ ' reliige in a life of leisure. Among the number have

. / V been illustrious philosophers of the fbst rank and

grave and eamest men who could not bear the ways

of the people or their rulers. Some of these spent

their lives in the country finding pleasure in the

management of their property. 70. They aspired

to the independence of kings, who suiFer no want,

bow to no ^authority, and enjoy liberty, or the

t privilege of living as you please.
^. ^^,., (*.^ ^^j^ — .j^jg ^j^^jj jg ^j^^ common object of ambi-

tious statesmen and men of leisure ; statesmen expect
to attain it by acquiring great wealth, men of leisure
by contenting themselves with their own means,
however small. Neither view is to be condemned^
but the life of the retired man is easier and safer
for himself^ less dangerous and oppressive to others^
while the career of the politician who devotes
himself to the conduct of important afiairs is more

f ^ ^ fruitful to the World and is the highway to eminence

' -^ and distinction. 71. I should therefore be disposed

^ ^Xi excuse the political inaction of men of genius

^ who consecrate their lives to study and of those

who through ill-health or some more serious cause

withdraw from public life, leaving to others the

opportunity and the credit of govemment. But

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when men without such excuse profess to scom the

commands and offices which dazzle the world, their/

conduct deserves nothiiig but censure. In so ßur as

they despise glory and count it as naught we are

bound to sympathise with their views ; but it really

seems as if they shrank from toil and trouble and

the supposed discredit of political failure. Some

men are inconsistent in opposite circumstances ; they

rigorously despise pleasure^ in pain they are over-

sensitive, they scom glory, but are crushed by

disgrace, and even in their inconsistency they are

inconsistent. 72. But the bom adniinistrator should

without hesitation seek for ofiice and assume the

direction of public affairs ; otherwise govemment

becomes impossible and there is no field for the dis-

play of fortitude. Now magnanimity and contempt

of fortune, tranquillity and composure of mind, are

not less necessary, perhaps even more necessary, to

statesmen than to philosophers, if they are to be free

from anxiety and to live a staid and well-balanced

life. 73. This is easier for philosophers ; their life <" /

is less exposed to the blows of fortune ; they have

fewer wants ; and in adversity they have not so far

to falL Statesmen are naturally agitated by stronger

emotions than private Citizens and they are more

arobitious of success. Thus they have all the more

need to exerdse fortitude which frees the mind from

care. On entering political life a man should not

j. 5 ^^^kk

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only consider the honourable nature of the work,

but also his ability to perform it ; and in this self-

examination he mast guard against the groundless

despair of the coward and the excessive confidence of

the man of ambition. In a word, whatever we under-

take, the most thorough preparation is necessary.

XXII. — 74. 1 wish here to correct the prevailing

prejudice that the work of the soldier is more

important thau the work of the statesman. Many

men seek occasions for war in order to gratify their

ambition ; and the tendency is most conspieuous in

men of strong character and great intellect, especially

if they have a genius and a passion for war&re. But

if we weigh the matter well, we shall find that many

civil transactions have surpassed in importance and

celebrity the Operations of war. 75. Though the

deeds of Themistocles are justly extoUed, though his

name is more illustrious than that of Solon, and

though Salamis is eited as witness to the brilliant

victory which eclipses the wisdom of Solon in found-

ing the Areopagus, yet the work of the law-giver

must be reckoned not less glorious than that of the

Commander. Salamis was a momentary advantage to

the state^ the Areopagus a benefit which will endure

for ever ; for it is this Council that has preserved

the laws of the Athenians and their time-honoured

institutions. Themistocles can point to no instance

in which he served the Areopagus, while the Areopa-

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gus caü boast of rendering aid to Themistocles ; (ot
the war was directed by the wisdom of that Council
which Solon had established. 76. The same may be
Said of Pausanias and Lysander. Though they ex-
tended the limits of the Lacedaemonian empire,
their exploits are nowise to be compared with the
legislation and the Constitution of Lycurgus. Why^
it was to hira they owed the discipline and courage
of their men. To teil the truth, I never thought
M. Scaurus inferior to Marius when I was a boy, nor
Q. Catulus to Cn. Pompeius at the time when I was
engaged in public affairs ; an army in the field is
nothing without wisdom at home. Scipio Africanus,
who was equally remarkable as a man and as a
soldier, rendered no greater Service to bis country by
the destruction of Numantia than bis contemporary
P. Nasica who though not invested with official
authority put to death Ti. Gracchus. The conduct
of Nasica does not belong exdusively to the province
of civil affairs — for an act of violence borders on
warfare — still it was a political, not a military mea-
sure. 77. That is a fine sentiment though I hear
it is constantly assailed by traitors who bear me a
grudge : —

Let swordsmen to the gown give place,
And crown the orator with bays.

Not to mention other examples, when I was at the

heim of State, did not the sword yield to the garb

:i7

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of peace ? Never was our countiy menaced by more
serious danger, never did she enjoy more profound
repose : and it was through my vigilant policy that
the sword slLpped firom the traitor's hands and feil
to the ground as if by magic. When was such an
exploit performed in war ? Where will you find a
triumph to compare with mine? 78. I speak thus
frankly^ my dear son, because I know that my self-
complacency will be pardoned by one who is destined
to inherit my glory and foUow my example. Why,
the great Cn. Pompeius, a hero crowned with the
laureis of victory, publicly paid me the compliment
that in vain would he have won his third triumph had
not my efTorts preserved our city, the scene of its
celebration. There is then a clvic fortitude which is
not inferior to the prowess of the soldier, and demands
even greater energy and self-sacrifice.

XXIIL— 79. That moral dignity, which we find in
a noble and lofty spirit^ depends, it is true, on force of
mind, not on bodily strength ; yet we must so train
and school the body that it may obey our judgment
and reason, whether we are discharging public func-
tions or enduring hardships. The moral dignity, I
say, which is the subject of our inquiry, consists
exclusively in thought and reflection ; and thus the
ministers who govern the republic perforro as import-
ant work as the generals who command her armies.

It is by the policy of statesmen that war has oflen

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been averted, brought to a close^ or even declared;

the third Punic War, for instance, was undertaken on

the advice of M. Cato, and even after his death it was

aiFected by his powerfiil influence. 80. Accordingly in

settling a dispute the skill of the diplomatist is to be

preferred to the valour of the soldier, but we should

adopt this principle not through fear of war but on

the ground of public expediency^ and should only

take up arros when it is evident that peace is the one

object we pursue. Again, the strong and resolute

man is not shaken by misfortune ; he is never dis-

concerted or thrown oiF his balance, but at all times

retains his presence of mind, his judgment, and his

reason. 8 i . Such are the marks of personal courage.

But the man of great intellect anticipates the future,

calculates the chances for good or for evil, decides

how to meet every contingency, and is never re-

dttced to the necessity of saying : ** That is not what

I expected". These are the features by which we

recognise a great and sublime spirit^ confident in its

own prudence and wisdom. But to rush into battle

blindfold and fight the enemy band to band is bar-

barous and brutal ; nevertheless^ when stress of cir-

cumstances demands it^ we must draw the sword

and choose death before slavery and shame.

XXIV. — 82. To pass to the destruction and spolia-

tion of cities we should here avoid recklessness and

cruelty. In times of disorder^ too^ the brave man will

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punish the leaders and spare the people and in eveiy

conjancture will cleave to what is right and honour-

able. I have said that some men prefer the valour of

the soldier to the wisdom of the statesman^ so you

will find many to whom a dangerous and feverish

policy is more dazzling and irtipressive than calm

and well-considered counsels. 83. We should never

incur the Imputation of cowardice by fleeing from

danger^ while we should avoid the other extreme of

rushing into danger, which is the height of folly. It

is therefore necessary in perilous enterprises to follow

the practice of physicians who treat mild cases with

gentle measures and only apply desperate remedies to

desperate diseases. It is mad to pray for a storm

when the sea is calm^ but wise, when it comes, to

meet it with every precaution (so it is wrong to

court danger, but right to face it boldly), especially if

you have more to gain by decisive action than you

would lose by remaining in suspense. Now great

enterprises are fraught with danger partly to those

who undertake them, partly to the State, and in

carry ing them out some men risk their lives, others

their reputation and the goodwill of their fellow-

Citizens. We should therefore be more willing to

endanger our own interests than the welfare of our

country and to stake our honour and glory more

readily than other advantages. 84. History presents

many examples of men who, though ready to lavish

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wealth and even life for their country, tumed a
deaf ear to her prayers when she called for the
slightest sacrifice of their glory. Callicratidas, the
Lacedaemonian Commander in the Peloponnesian war^
performed many brlUiant exploits, but at last threw
away all he had won by rejecting the proposal that he
should withdraw his squadron ^m Arginusae and
not engage the Athenlans. '' If the Lacedaeroonians
lose this fleet," he replied, " they can build another,
but for me fiight means disgrace." The reverse at
Arginusae was unimportant. But that was a fatal
blow which Cleombrotus dealt to the Lacedaemonian
empire when through fear of public opinion he rashly
fought with Epaminondas. How much wiser the
conduct of Q. Maximus of whom Ennius says : —

Fabius was slow but sure, and his delay
Restorcd the tottering State. Now 'twas his way
To mind his business, not what people said :
He lived a great man, but he*s greater dead.

Errors such as these should also be avoided in political

life. There are actually men who through fear of

unpopularity will not dare to express their opinions^

however excellent.

XXV. — 85. Our statesmen will do well to remember

these two precepts of Plato's. Forgetting personal

interest they should aim at the public advantage and

make that the object of all their efforts ; again, they

should care for the whole body politic and not abandon

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one part while piotecting another. The govemment
of a country resembles the charge of a minor. It
mu8t be conducted for the advantage of the govemed,
not of the govemors. To promote the welfare of one
section of the citiasens and neglect another is to bring
upon the State the curse of revolution and civil strife.
What is the result ? We have a democratie and an
aristocratie party, but a national party hardly exists.

86. This factious spirit it was that caiised such bitter
feuds at Athens and in our owa republic fiumed the
flames of sedition and destructive civil wars. From
such disasters a brave and eamest Citizen worthy of
supreme political power will tum with detestation.
Indifferent to influence and power he will give his
undivided energies to the public Service and will
impartially promote the interests of every class and
the good of the whole nation. He will never
employ false charges to expose any man to hatred
or unpopularity^ but will cleave to justice and
honour, and rather than abandon his principles will
suffer the heaviest loss and brave even death itself.

87. There is nothing more deplorable than the

passion for popularity and the struggle for office.

Plato has a fine simile on this subject " Competitors

for the public administration/' he says^ ''are like sailors

fighting for the heim." In another place he enjoins

US not to regard our political opponents with the

same hostility as men who take up arms against

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öar oountry. I may cite as an example the livalry
of P. Africanus and Q. Metellus which was never
embittered by personal rancour. 88. I have no
patience with those who would have us cherish bitter
animosity against our rivals as if that were a mark of
fortitude. No, there is nothing more preise worthy,
nothing more becoming in a great and noble character
than a forgiving^ forbearing spirit. In a free country,
where all enjoy equal rights^ if we cultivate a grecious
manner it should be united with the power to disguise
our feelings, for, if we are ruffled by an ill-timed visit
or an impudent request, we may &11 a prey to a
churlish temper injurious to ourselves and offensive
to others. But if the public interests are at stake
this gentleness and mercy are only to be commended
when they are aecompanied with stemness without
which govemment is impossible. In administering
punishment and reproof it behoves us to abstain from
insult and to seek the public advantage and not our
personal satisfaction. 89. Again, we should never
impose a penalty disproportioned to the offence or
for the same crime punish one and let another go
unchallenged. Above all, when we inflict punish-
ment, let US put away anger; he who approaches
the task in an angry spirit will never observe the
happy mean between excess and defect, that car-
dinal principle of the Peripatetics, which they

would be right in preaching if they did not preise

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aiiger and teil us that nature has bestowed it ^or

some good end. No, in all circumstances let us

repudiate this passion and pray that our rulers may

resemble the laws which punish not in anger but in

justice.

XXVI. — 90. Moreover when fortune smiles and

everything is going to our heart's desire, it is our

duty to abstain from pride, disdain and arrogance.

It is as sure a sign of weakness to be spoiled by

success as to be crushed by misfortune, and it is a

golden rule in every Situation of life to keep our

.-*-*^ balance and wear an even look and the same un-

ruffled brow. Such we leam from history was the

character of Socrates and of C. Laelius. Philip of

Macedon, we are told, was inferior to his son in

heroism and glory but surpassed him in condescen-

sion and sympathy. The father was always noble,

the son was often mean ; hence the maxim seems

true : ** The higher you rise, the more lowly must you

be ". Panaetius records a favourite simile of his friend

and pupil Africanus : " When horses grow wild and

mettlesome afler constant charges in the field of

battle, their owners band them to the horse-breaker

to make them more tractable ; so presumptuous men

who tum restive in prosperity should be taken to the

manage of reason and philosophy to learn the frailty

of human things and the fickleness of fortune ". 91 •

It is above all in the height of our success that we

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should consult our friends and bow to their authority. U'-' '" |

At such a season too it is well to be>yare of the

flatterer and close our ears to his seductive words.

We are all so well pleased with ourselves that we

accept praise as our due ; hence the countless blun-

ders of men who^ pulBTed up with vanity, fall a prey

to the greatest delusions and bring upon themselves

contempt and ridieule. 92. But enough of this sub-

ject. To recapitulate, the public administration is so

extensive in its ränge and embraces such a multitude

of interests that statesmen unquestionably perform

the most important work in the world and that which

demands the greatest fortitude. But it cannot be

denied that in all ages many private men of strong

character have carried on important researches or

pursued great objects without quitting their own

sphere. Midway between philosophers and states

men there is another class who take delight in the

management of their own affairs, never adding to

their fortune by unscrupulous means nor refusing, in

case of need, to aid their kinsmen, their friends^ or

their country. Property should be acquired by no

dishonest or odious methods ; it should be increased

by thought^ care and thrift; and it should benefit

the greatest possible number provided they are

worthy, and minister less to excess and luxury

than to liberality and beneficence. By following

these principles we may lead a lofty^ dignified, and

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independent life, uniting candour with good faith
and goodwill to all men.

XXVII. — 9^, It remains to discuss the last part of

honour. This comprises considerate feeling and the

virtue of self-command or moderation^ which lends a

sort of lustre to our life^ subdues our passions and

t , ^j. V^**'*" regulates ourconduct. It fiirther includes the virtue

which we may call in Latin decorum ; the Greeks
call it irptirov. Decorum is really inseparable from
honour. 9^. Indeed the two notions are coex-
tensive and the difference between them is more
easily feit than explained. For decorum, whatever
it may be, always presupposes honour. It is there-
fore found not only in the present division of honour,
but also in the three preceding. It is decorous to
think and speak wisely, to act deliberately, and in
everything to see and uphold the truth ; on the
other handj it is just as indecorous to be led astray
and wander stumbling in the dark, as to go crasy
and lose one's reason. All just acts are decorous,
while unjust acts are at once dishonourable and in-
decorous. The same thing is true of fortitude. To
act in a manly and courageous spirit is decorous and
worthy of a man, to do otherwise is at once dis-
honourable and indecorous. Qb, The decorum of
which I speak is thus related to honour as a whole,
and the relation is so manifest that no abstruse pro-

cess of reasoning is required to discover it. In the

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whole of virtue we feel there is something decorous ;
and if we separate these two conceptions, the distinc-
tion is more theoretical than real. As bodily grace
and beauty are inseparable from health, so deconim
is merged in virtue though the two conceptions may
be severed in thought. 96. There are two kinds of
decorum ; the one is general and is associated with
honour as a whole^ the other is special and belongs
to particular virtues. General deconim is commonly
defined as that which harmonises with the character- |^^^
istic excellence of man which distinguishes him from
all other living creatures; and special decorum as
that which so befits our nature as to invest modera-
tion and temperance with an indefinable charm.

XXVIII.— 97. That this is the notion of decorum
may be inferred from the laws of dramatic propriety.
These are fully treated in other works, but I will here
remark that poets observe these laws when they make
each personage act and speak in accordance with his
character. For example, we should be shocked if
Aeacus or Minos said, " let them hate^ so they fear^"
or^ 'Hhe father is the grave of his own children/'
because we know that they were just men : but in
the mouth of Atreus these words call forth applause,
because they are appropriate to his part. It rests
with the poet to decide what is proper to each
character by the part he plays. As for man, Nature

berself has assigned to him a part far transcending

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that of other living creatures. 98* If the poet has

to invest his varied personages with their appropriate

attributes^ and to clothe even vice in its peculiar

garb^ we^ whom Nature has placed upon the stage of

life to exhibit strength of character, moderation, self-

command and sympathy^ we, whom she teaches to

bethink us of our duties to our fellow-men^ cannot

&il to see the extent and importance of the general

decorum which is inseparable froxn honour as a whole^

and of the special decorum which is displayed in each

particular virtue. As bodily beauty attracts the eye

by the symmetry of the limbs and charms us by the

graceful hannony of all the parts, so the decorum

which shines in our conduct engages the esteem

of Society by the order, consistency and restr&it

which it imposes on all our words and deeds. 99*

We therefore owe a certain deference to all men,

especially to the good. For indifference to public

/^ opinion is a mark not only of presumption but of

^ . utter depravity. In our social relations there is a

difference between justice and sympathy. Not to

wrong our fellow-men is the function of justice : that

of sympathy is not to wound their feelings ; herein

the power of decorum is most conspicuous. The

nature of that virtue should^ I think, be clear from

the foregoing exposition. 100. The duty derived from

decorum conducts us in the first place to harmony

with nature and the faithful observaucQ of h^r laws.

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If we take nature for our guide we shall never go

astray, but resolutely foUow Prudence^ that is true

insight and wisdom, Justice, the principle of human

Society^ and Fortitude or moral strength. But it is

in Temperance^ the division of Honour now under

discussion, that the force of decorum is most conspic-

uous ; for neither the gestures of the body nor the

emotions of the mind can be called decorous unless

they are in harmony with Nature. 101. The soul is

swayed by two forces : the one is appetite, called by

the Greeks o/^/xif, which hurries us this way and that^

the other reason, which teaches us what to do and

what to avoid. It follows that reason must command

and appetite obey.

XXIX. — Our conduct should be whoUy free from

thoughtless precipitation, and for every action we ^ - *t

should be able to fumish a reasonable motive; that -^' ' /

is as nearly as possible the definition of duty. 102. ^^ >i /

To this end it is necessary to bring the appetites / ' - ^-'^

under the sway of reason ; they must neither be so

impetuous as to run away from reason nor so lazy

and sluggish as to lag behind her^ but should be

calm and free from passion : thus will consistency

and moderation shine forth in all their glory. If

through desire or fear the appetites run riot and

become too restive to be controiled by reason, they

clearly overstep the bounds of moderation. For

when they cast off the yoke and revolt against their
4 49

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natural mistress^ they not only unsettle the sou], but
disfigure the body. Just look at the face of a man
agitated by anger, desire, or fear, or intoxicated with
pleasure ; what a ehange in his look, his voice, his
gestures and his whole aspect. 103. To retum to
the coneeption of the duty under discussion, it is
manifest that we must curb and calm our appetites
and stir ourselves up to be diligent and watchful
lest we grow reckless and let our lives drift without
thought or care. Surely Nature never intended us
for sport or jest so much as for purposes more serious
and noble, and for an eamest life. Sport and jest
have their own place like sleep and other kinds of
repose, but we must first meet the claims of serious
and important work. Wit should be neither ex-
travagant nor immoderate but refined and elegant.
As we do not allow children absolute freedom in
their play but only such freedom as comports with
good conduct, so even in a jest there should be some
spark of virtue. 104. Jests are of two kinds : some
are low, wanton, wicked, obscene ; others elegant,
polished, graceful. Elegant witticisms abound not
only in Plautus and the Old Attic Comedy but also
in the pages of the Socratic philosophers, and we
possess many happy sayings of the kind such as the
dTTofjißcyfiaTa collected by Cato the Eider. It is easy
to distinguish the refined from the vulgär jest. At

the proper season, when the mind is free, an elegant

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sally is worthy of a great man^ but coarse thoughts
expressed in coarse words are only fit for a slave.
Sport as well as wit has its limits which we should
never transgress lest we be carried away by passion
and lapse into some deed of shame. Our ''Cam-
pus*' and the chase fumish examples of noble
pastimes.

XXX. — 105. In every question of duty it is im-
portant to remember how far the nature of man
transcends the nature of the brutes. The brutes are
susceptible only of sensual pleasure^ and at that they
rush in füll career ; but the mind of man is nourished
by study and thought, is ever seeking or doing, and
is charmed with the pleasures of seeing and hearing.
Why, if a man is at all prone to sensual pleasure, ,
without descending, as some men do, to the level of
the brutes, and is caught in the toils of vice, for
very shame he hides and cloaks his passion. 106*
Hence it is evident that sensual pleasure is un-
worthy of the dignity of man and that we must scom
and cast it from us ; but if we do yield to passion let / ^ ^ ^^^ ^
US take heed that we use some measure in our /
indulgence. Therefore in the food we eat and the /.. • ' ^j^^. ^
care we bestow on the body we should aim at health
and strength and not at sensual pleasure. We have
only to reflect on the excellence and dignity of
human nature to feel how base it is to languish in

luxury and pamper ourselves in voluptuous ease, and

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how noble it is to lead a frugal^ temperate^ well-
disciplined life.

107. In the next place observe that Nature has
invested us with two characters. The one is uni-
versal, inasmuch as all men participate in reason and
in that excellence which lifts humanity above the
brüte creation. This is the one source of honour and
decorum and of the very idea of right and wrong.
The other character is individual. Great as are the
diversities in the Constitution of the body — one man
is a swift runner, another a strong wrestler ; one has
a stately, another a graceful figure — the diversities
of character are greater still. 108, L. Crassus and
L. Philippus possessed great wit, Caesar, the son
of Lucius, even greater, but bis was more laboured ;
on the other band, tlieir contemporaries, young
M. Drusus and M. Scaurus, were remarkable for their
gravity and C. Laelius for bis vivacity^ while bis friend
Scipio united a loftier ambition with a more solemn
demeanour. Among the Greeks, we are told, Socrates
had a winning» playful, sprightly manner, and bis
discourse was füll of that roguish humour which the
Greeks call irony ; Pythagoras and Pericles on the
other band had not a spark of gaiety and yet attained
commanding influence. Among the Punic leaders
Hannibal was as sbrewd as Q. Maximus among our
own ; both had the gift of silence and the art of

hiding their own stratagems and stealing a march on

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the enemy. For such qualities the Greeks assign
the palm to Themistocles and Jason of Pherae, and
we have a remarkable instance of astuteness in the
artifice of Solon, who feigned madness in order to
save his life and benefit his country. 109' In con-
trast with these are the men of frank and open char-
acter, who love the truth, hate deceit, and set their
fiice against craft and treachery ; others again, hke
Sulla and M. Crassus^ would stoop to anything and
cringe to any man, if only they could gain their
object. Thus the artful diplomacy of the Lace-
daemonian L3r8ander formed a strong contrast with
the character of Callicratidas, his immediate suc-
cessor in the office of admiral. Further, we know of
eminent men who were remarkable for their conde-
seension. I may cite as examples Catulus and his
son, and Q. Mucius and Mancia. Old men have
told me the same thing of Nasica, but they said
that his father, who punished the frantic schemes
of Ti. Gracchus, had no such gracious manner and
rose to greatness and celebrity for that very reason.
Besides these there are countless varieties öf char-
acter, none of which is to be condemned, though
they all diiTer irom one another.

XXXI. — 1 10. The surest means of observing the
decorum which is the object of this inquiry is to be
resolute in cleaving to our own native qualities^ pro-

vided they be not vicious. Without violating the

; JjK'*M'^,\C

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universal laivs of human nature we should follow the
bent of our own character^ and, leaving to other men
careers more brilliaut and imposing, determine our
pursuits by the Standard of our own aptitudes. It is
vain to fight against the conditions of our existence
and strive after the impossible. Thus the coneeption
of decorum emerges into clearer light; for, accord-
ing to the adage, nothing is decorous if it thwarts
Minerva — in other words, if it is in direct Opposition
to our natural genius. 111. If there be such a thing
as decorum at all, it is nothing but the balance of the
whole conduct and of particular acts, and how can
this be maintained if we copy the nature of others
to the neglect of our own ? For^ as we ought to use
our raother tongue which everybody understands in
Order to escape the well-deserved ridicule which some
incur by foisting in Greek phrases^ so we should
introduce no discord either into particular actions or
into our conduct as a whole. 112. This diversity of
character is sometimes so imperious that in the same
circumstances suicide is for one man a duty, for
another a crime. Was not M. Cato in the same
Position as those who surrendered to Caesar in Africa }
Yet they might have been condemned if they had
slain themselves, because their life had been less
austere, their characters more pliant ; but Cato, whom
Nature had endowed with incredible resolution which
K he had fortified by unswerving unity of purpose,

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Cato, who had continued stead&st in every design

and every enterprise, had no choice but to die rather

than behold the face of the tyrant. 113. What

miseries Ulysses sufiered in his weary wanderings!

Think how he stooped to be the slave of women (if

Ciree and Calypso deserve the name)^ and set himself

to speak pleasant things to every man he met ! Nay,

in his own home he brooked the reproaches of slaves

and handmaids in order to reaeh at last the goal

of his desires. Ajax, on the contrary, with his proud

spirit, would have died a thousand deaths rather than

sufTer such indignity. These considerations teach us

that every one should appraise and regulate his own

character wlthout trying if another mans will fit

him : that fits a man best which is most his own.

114. Let each one then study his own nature and

be a strict judge of his merits and defects. We

ought surely to have as much sense as actors who

choose not the best pieces but those most suited to

their powers. An actor with a fine voiee appears in

the Epigoni or the Medus, another will choose the

Melanippe or the Clytemnaestra to exhibit his action ;

Rupilius, whom I remember, always played in the

Antiopa, Aesop rarely in the Ajax. I ask you^ if an

actor observes this decorum on the stage, shall a wise

man neglect it in the drama of life } Our aptitudes,

I repeat^ will be our best guide in choosing a career.

But, if fiite should ever thrust us aside into some

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uncongenial occupation, we should grudge no pains,

thought or eifort to acquit ourselves, if not with

distinction^ at least without discredit^ and rather

endeavour to avoid defects than to attain to virtues

which nature has placed beyond our reach.

XXXII. — 115. To these two characters may be

added a third which fate or chance imposes on us :

there is indeed a fourth which we deliberately

assume. Royalty and command^ rank and office,

wealth and influence^ and the opposite conditions^

depend on fortune or on circumstances : but the

part that we are to play in the world is the result of

our own free choice. 116. Thus one man tums to

philosophy^ another to civil law^ a third to eloquence^

and we have even our favourite virtues. But those

whose fathers or ancestors have distinguished them-

selves in some particular sphere commonly strive to

carry on the noble traditions of their family. Thus

Q. Mucius, the son of Publius^ was an eminent Jurist^

and Africanus^ the son of Paulus, a great general.

Some men superadd distinction of their own to that

which they have inherited from their fathers. The

same Africanus crowned his martial glory with the

renown of the orator^ and Timotheus^ the son of

Conon^ who^ as a soldier^ was not inferior to his

father^ enhanced his reputation by his ability and

culture. Other men quit the beaten track and

follow a path of their own^ and here aspiring men of

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humble origin achieve the greatest success. 117.
These are the considerations we must keep in view
while investigating the nature of deconim ; but fint
of all we have to deeide what we are to do and what
manner of men we wish to be — the most diffieult
problem in the world. For it is in early youth when
the judgment is most feeble that eaeh one adopts the
profession that attracts him most. He is thus com-
mitted to some definite course of life before he is
fit to judge whieh is the best. 118. Aecording to
ProdicuSj as eited by Xenophon^ Hercules in his early
youth^ the period set apart by nature for choosing a
path of life, went out to a lonely spot and sitting
down there with two paths in view, the path of
Pleasure and the path of Virtue, for a long time
eamestly deliberated which it was better to follow.
This may have happened to Hercules " sprung from
the seed of Jove," but for us it is impossible. For
we all copy the modeis we happen to choose and feel
constrained to adopt their tastes and pursuits. But
for the most part we are so imbued with the principles
of our parents that we naturally fall into their manners
and customs. Some men are swept away by the cur-
rent of populär opinion, and the Ideals of the multi-
tude are their highest ambition ; others, whether
through good fortune or natural ability, pursue the
right path without parental Instruction.

XXXIII. — 119. It rarely happens that men who

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possess eminent ability or extraordinary leaming or
eulture^ or even unite these two advantages^ have
the leisure to deliberate on the choice of a career.
The question turns on the disposition and capaeity
of the Individual. I have ah'eady said that we must
study our own nature in order to discover what is
decorous in particular actions ; how mueh more im-
C f/v'(.i. "^1 perative is such a precaution when we are ordering
f our whole life^ if we desire to maintain a consistent

^ character and never falter in our duty. 120. In this

inquiry Fortune next to Nature has the most powerful
influence. They both demand our attention but
Nature has the stronger claim; she is in truth so
much more firm and steadfast^ that in confiict with
Fortune she is like a goddess contending with a
mortal. If^ then, a man has chosen some mode of
life adapted to his nature — I mean his better nature
— let him persevere, for that is his duty, unless he
find that he has blundered in his choice. If he has
erred — and error is possible — he must change his
habits and pursuits. If circumstances favour, the
change will be attended with less trouble and dis-
comfort : otherwise, he must retrace his steps with
care and caution, as wise men hold that when a
friend has lost his charm and forfeited our esteem
the bonds of affection should be gradually untied
rather than suddenly cut asunder. 121. His career

once altered, he should endeavour to show that he

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has acted with wisdom. I said above that we ought

to follow the example of our forefathers. The rule

has two exceptions. Never copy their vices; and

never seek to emulate theh: virtues^ if Nature has

placed them beyond your reach. Thus the son of

the eider Africanus was too infirin to rival his glory,

while the soa of Paulus whom he adopted walked in

his father's footsteps. If then you have not the

talent to become a pleader, a statesman, or a general,

you should at least practise the virtues that lie with-

in your powers^ such as justice, honour^ liberality,

moderation, self-command ; and thus your defects will

be less conspicuous. The noblest heritage^ the riebest

patrimony a £sither can bequeath to his children is a

reputation for virtue and noble deeds. To tarnish

his good name is a sin and a crime.

XXXIV. — 122. Since our duties vary at every

stage of life, and some are peculiar to the young^

others to the old, it is necessary to explain the dis-

tinction in a few words. It behoves a young nuin

to respect his eiders and choose the best and most

trusted among them to uphold him with their counsel

and authority ; for the folly of youth must needs be

ordered and directed by the wisdom of age. Above

all the young should be restrained from passion^ and

their bodies and minds inured to toil and endurance,

that they may be ready one day to put forth their

energies in the duties of war and of peace. Even

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when they unbend and give themselves to enjoyment
they should guard against excess and remember the
dictates of modesty : and the task will be more easy
if in pleasure as in business they do not shun the Com-
pany of men of riper years. 123. Old men, on the
other hand^ as they become less capable of physical
exertion^ should redouble their intellectual activity,
and their prineipal occupation should be to assist the
young, their friends^ and above all their country,
with their wisdom and sagaeity. There is nothing
they should guard against so mueh as languor and
sloth. Luxury^ which is shameful at every period of
life, makes old age hideous. If it is united with
sensuality^ the evil is two-fold. Age thus brings dis-
grace on itself and aggravates the shameless licence
of the young. 1S4. It may not be irrelevant to
speak of the duties of magistrates^ of private Citizens^
and of foreigners. It is incumbent on the magistrate
to realise that ^he represents the state and that he is
bound to uphold its dignity and credit, to guard the
Constitution, and to dispense justice with an even
hand^ remembering that these things are sacred
trusts committed to his charge. It behoves a private
Citizen to live on equal terms with his fellows, and
not to cringe and grovel or to hold his head too
high, and in public affairs to support a peaceful and
honourable policy. Such are the qualities we look

for in the model Citizen. 1 25. As for the foreigner

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and the resident alien, it is bis duty to mind his own

affairs, and not to pry into the afiairs of otliers or

meddle in the politics of a country with which he

has no concem. These are substantially the duties

that we shall find to be incumbent on us when we

inquire what is decorous and what is appropriate to

particular characters, circumstances^ and periods of

life. In every purpose and in every action there is

nothing more decorous than a steady and consistent

demeanour.

XXXV. — 126. The second kind of decorum is seen

in our words and deeds and in the aspeet of the body

whether in motion or at rest. It consists of beauty^

harmony^ and taste, conceptions more easily under-

stood than expressed. These three qualities again

connote the desire to please those with whom we

live and the wider cirele of our fellow-eitizens. I will

there fore say a few words on this subject. In the

first place, observe the care which Nature herseif has

bestowed on the construction of our body. She

displays to view the face and all those parts the

sight of which is decent, but has covered up and con-

cealed the organs designed for the natural fiinctions

as iinsightly and offensive. 127. Here our sense

of shame follows the subtle contrivance of Nature.

FoUowing her example all healthy-minded men con-

ceal these organs and their functions, and it is even

thought indecent to mention things which are not

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wrong provided they be done in secret. It is only

the Publicity of these acts and obscenity of language

that constitute immodesty. 128. I have no patience

with the cynics or their Stoic rivals who sneer at

modesty and scout the idea that it is right to speak

of actions that are immoral, but outrageous to

mention others that are innocent in themselves.

Robbery, theft, adultery, are wrong, but it is not

indecent to speak of them ; it is right to beget

children, but obscene to mention it ; with these

and similar arguments they attack the principle of

modesty. As for us, we ought to follow Nature and

shun everything that shocks the eye or the ear.

Whether we stand or walk, whether we sit or lie,

our whole demeanour and all our looks and gestures

should be governed by decorum. 129. Here there

are two extremes to be avoided, efFeminate languor

and boorish coarseness. We eannot admit that the

laws of decorum are binding on the actor and the

orator, but are indifferent to us. Theatrical tradition

has carried the laws of modesty so far that an actor

never appears on the stage without a girdle for fear

of exposing his person and shocking the spectators.

In our country it is not the custom for an adult son

to bathe with his father or a father-in-law with a son-

in-law. It is our duty, I repeat, to obey these laws

of modesty especially as Nature herseif is our teacher

and guide.

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XXXVI.— 130. There are two kinds of beauty.

The first is grace, the attribute of woman ; the second

is dignity, the attribute of man. Therefore shun all

foppery and affeetation. If our manners recall the

palaestra or the stage they will be offensive and

ridiculous ; they are only admired when they are

simple and natural. The beauty of the face depends

on the complexion, and the complexion is the result

of exercise. The eare of our person should not be

carried to the extreme of obtrusive refinement ; it

will suffice if we are free from rough and unmannerly

neglect. The same principle applies to our dress ;

here^ as in most things, moderation is best. 131.

When we are out Walking we must not be so slow

and languid as to suggest a religious procession nor

must we hurry so fast as to put ourselves out of

breath and disturb our looks and features ; for

these are sure Symptoms of want of balanee. Still

more eamestly should we endeavour to keep our

emotion s in their natural State of repose ; and we

shall succeed in the efFort if we are proof against

excitement and depression and intent on the mainte-

nance of decorum. 132. The Operations of the mind

are of two kinds ; some are connected with thought,

others with appetite. Thought is employed in the dis-

covery of truth, appetite impels to action. Lef us strive

then to employ our thoughts on the nobles t objects

and to bring our appetites under the sway of reason.

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XXXVII. — Speech is a great power in the world.
It is of two kinds, formal discourse and conversation.
Formal discourse is appropriate to judicial argument
and to political and deliberative orations ; conversa-
tion finds its natural place in social gatherings^
leamed discussions, and in friendly reunions and
banquets. There is a science of rhetoric^ and I am
inclined to think a science of conversation possible
though none exists. The demand for masters creates
the supply^ and though the world is füll of students
of rhetoric^ there are neither students nor masters of
conversation. Still the rules of rhetoric are equally
applicable to conversation. 133. Since the voice is
the organ of speech, we should try to make it clear
and pleasant. These qualities, it is true, are natural
gifts^ but the first may be improved by practice^
the second by the imitation of calm and articulate
Speakers. Tliere was nothing about the two Catuli
to make you think they possessed a fine literary
sense ; for the culture they had was nothing extra-
ordinary, and yet it was thought they spoke Latin
with the greatest purity. Their pronunciation was
agreeable^ the sounds were neither mouthed nor
minced, obscure nor aifected ; and they spoke without
effortj yet without monotony or excessive modula-
tion. The diction of L. Crassus was more copious
and not less brilliant, but the eloquence of the Catuli

ranked as high as bis. In wit and humour Caesar,

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the brother of the eider Catulus, was the first Speaker

of bis time ; even at tbe bar bis easy eonversational

style surpassed tbe laboured speecbes of bis rivals.

If^ tben, we aim at decorum in everytbing we do,

we sbould strive to perfect ourselves in all tbese

qualities. 134. Forming our eonversation on tbe ad-

mirable model of tbe disciples of Socrates^ let us put

forward our opinions in an easy tentative way and

not witbout a spiee of bumour. Above all^ we sbould

never monopolise tbe eonversation^ but allow every

one in tum to bave bis fair sbare. First of all it is

necessary to consider tbe subjeet, and, wbetber it be

grave or gay, let our language correspond. Again it

is important not to betray any defect of cbaracter,

sucb as tbe maliee of tbe slanderer wbo deligbts in

attacking tbe absent eitber in jest or witb tbe serious

purpose of covering them witb abuse and contumeiy.

135. Conversation generally tums upon &mi]y affairs,

politics or leaming and culture. Tbese are tbe

subjects to wbieb we must endeavour to bring it

back if it bas drifted into anotber cbannel, but we

must always study tbe Company ; for tastes differ,

and notbing pleases all men at all times or to tbe

same degree. It is well to mark tbe moment wben

tbe subjeet palls and to end as we begau witb tact.

XXXVIIL— 136. Tbe sound principle, tbat in all

our conduct we sbould be free firom passion or wild

irrational feeling, ought naturally to govem our con-.
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versation. Let us betray no symptom of anger^ or

intense feeling, or of apathy, listlessness^ or similar

defects, and endeavour to exhibit respect and con-

sideration for those with whom we converse. If at

times reproof is required, it may be necessary to speak

in a louder tone and in stronger language and to assume

the appearance of anger. But like the cautery and the

lance, that is an extreme measure which we should sel-

dom and reluctantly employ and only as a last resource.

Anger itself we must put far away, for with it we can

do nothing right or well-advised. 1 37. Often it will

suflice to administer a gentle^ but calm^ reproof and

to exhibit stemness without insolence. Nay more, let

US show that even the severity of our censure is only

intended for the good of the offender. Again, in the

quarreis we have with our bitterest enemies, it is

proper to stifle our feelings and maintain our com-

posure whatever insults may be oifered to us. If

we are under the dominion of excitement we lose

our balance and forfeit the respect of the Company.

Another offence against decorum is to boast of oneself,

especially without ground^ and to expose oneself to

derision by playing the " Braggart Captain ".

XXXIX. — 138. Since I am discussing decorum in

all its phases — that is at least my purpose — I must

also explain what kind of house I consider appropri-

ate for an eminent public man. As a house is built

for use the plan should correspond ; but at the same

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time comfort and elegance ought to be studied. Cn.

Octavius^ the first consul of that name, distinguished

himself by building on the Palatine a splendid and

imposing mansion. All Rome rushed to see it^ and

it was thought to have won for its obscure owner the

votes which raised him to the consulate. Scaurus

demolished the house and built with the materials

a wing to his own. Thus Octavius was the first of

his fiimily to confer upon his house the honour of

the consulate^ while Scaurus, the son of a great and

illustrious man^ enlarged the house but brought to

it not only political defeat but also disgrace and

misfortune. 139- The house should not constitute,

though it may enhance, the dignity of the master ;

let the master honour the house, not the house the

master; and as in all things we should think of

others as well as of ourselves^ a distinguished Citizen

must have a spacious mansion in which to receive his

numerous guests and crowds of men of every condi-

tion. A palace only brings dishonour if solitude

reigns in its noble halls which once were füll of life

in the days of another master. How grievous to

hear the passers-by exclaim : " Here's the old house,

but where 's the old master ? " and this^ alas, is but

too true of many houses in these times. 140. Guard

against extravagance and excessive display^ especially

if you are building a house for yourself. The mere

example is mischievous. For men love to copy the

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foibles of the great. How few have rivalled the
virtue of Lucullus, how many the splendour of bis
mansions ! Never go to excess, but let moderation
be your guide not only in your house but in regard
to all the necessities and comforts of life. But I
must pass firom this subject.

141. Whatever you undertake, there are three rules

r . , ., A.\M^^ 1^ jjg observed. In the first place, it is necessary to

.^^ «.. IN "^ subject appetite to reason, for that is the surest means

/ 1 1«* *^ of fulfilling your duty ; again, you must estimate the

. ' ^ importance of the object you wish to accomplish that

the effbrt you bestow upon it may be neither greater

nor less than the case demands. Finally, observe

moderation in all that concems the aspect and dignity

of a gentleman ; and moderation is best attained by

observing that decorum of which we have been speak-

ing and never transgressing its limits. But the most

important of these three rules is to subject appetite

to reason.

XL. — 142. I have next to treat of order and

opportunity in our actions. These two duties are

comprehended in the science which the Greeks call

€VTa(ia, not the cvro^ta which we translate " modestia^"

a term connoting ''modus" or moderation, but the

cvTojui by which we understand the observance of

Order. Evrajia in this sense which we may also call

'' modestia/' is defined by the Stoics as the science

^^ Vr.^ of accurately disposing our words and deeds. Thus

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Order and disposition appear to have the same sefise :

for they define order as the disposition of things in

their fit and proper plaees. By the place of an

action they mean its fitness in point of time ; it is

ca]led in Greek evKotpla in Latin occasio. Conse-

quently ''modestia" in this sense is the science of

doing the right thing at the right time. 143. Pru-

dence, of which I spoke at the outset, may also be

defined in the same way: but it is self-command,

temperance, and similar virtues that concem us here.

The constituent parts of prudence were described in

their proper place ; here I have to state the eleraents

of those virtues which have detained us so long, I

mean the virtues which relate to sympathy and the

approbation of those with whom we live. 144. We

must therefore apply such order to all our actions

that they may harmonise and balance like the parts

of a well-ordered discourse. How shameful and

scandalous it is to Interrupt a serious conversation

with frivolous after-dinner talk. You may remember

the happy rejoinder of Pericles. He and Sophocles, as

coUeagues in command, had met for the transaction of

common business ; just then a handsome boy passed,

and Sophocles exclaimed : " What a comely youth,

Pericles ! " Pericles replied : " A general should con-

trol his eyes as well as his hands ". Yet, if Sophocles

had Said this at an inspection of athletes, there would

have been no fault to find. Such is the importance

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of time and place. If a man while travelling or

taking a walk should rehearse a case he is going to

plead or become absorbed in some other subject, no

one would blame him, but if he did this in society

he would be considered ill-bred, because Ignorant of

the art of timing bis actions. 145. Flagrant breaches

of manners, such as singing in the forum or similar

eecentrieities, are so obvious as to require no special

reproof or precept ; but petty faults which often

pass unheeded call for greater vigilance. As an

expert detects in the lyre or the pipe the slightest

deviation from the true tone, so in our life we should

avoid discord with the greater diligence, since the

harmony of our actions is more noble and more

beautiful than the harmony of sounds.

XLI. — 146. As a musical ear detects the slightest

variations of tone in the pipe, so the keen and vigilant

observer of moral defects will often draw important

condusions from trifling circumstances. If we watch

the glance of the eye, the expansion or contraction

of the eyebrows, the marks of sorrow or joy, laughter,

Speech or silence, the raising or lowering of the voice,

and other things of the kind, we shall easily judge

whether they are decorous or jar with duty and

nature. And it will not be unproßtable to study the

expression of the emotions in others, that we may

ourselves avoid what we find to be indecorous in

them. Alas, we see the sins of others better than

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our own ! This is why a master most easily corrects

his pupils by mimicking their defects. 147. In a

moral dilemma it is prudent to consult philosophers

or even sagacious men of the world and to ask their

advice on particular points of duty. For most men

drifl with the current of their instinct. But we

must consider not only what our adviser says but

also what he thinks and what are his grounds for

thinking as he does. Painters^ sculptors, and even

poets like to submit their works to the eriticism of

the public in order to correct what the majori ty

coudemn, and they endeavour by themselves and

with the aid of others to find where the defect lies ;

in like manner we must often follow the opinion of

others, whether we act or refrain^ alter or correct.

148. Tradition and civil institutions are precepts in

themselves, so that special precepts are unnecessary

for the actions which they govem, and it would be

a mistake to suppose that we may claim the right

of a Socrates or an Aristippus to act or speak in

defiance of usage and Convention : eccentricity is the

privilege of genius. As for the doctrine of the

Cynics, it must be absolutely scouted as inimical to

modesty, without which there can be nothing right

or honourable. 149. Further, it is our duty to

respect tbose patriotic Citizens who have proved

their strength in great and noble works, and have

loyally served their country, and to honour them

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as much as if they were invested with some public
ofiice or military command. It is out duty to
reverence old age, to defer to the magistrates^ and
to make a distinction in our treatment of countrymen
and foreigners, and in the case of foreigners to
consider whether they have come in a private or
a public capacity. Finally and in a word, let us
respect^ uphold, and maintain the great family of
the human race.

XLII. — 150. Public opinion divides the trades and
professions into the liberal and the vulgär. We
condemn the odious occupation of the collector of
customs and the usurer, and the base and menial
work of unskilled labourers, for the very wages the
labourer receives are a badge of slavery. Equally
contemptible is the business of the retail dealer^ for
he cannot succeed unless he is dishonest^ and dis-
honesty is the most shameful thing in the world.
The work of the mechanic is also degrading ; there
is nothing noble about a Workshop. The least
respectable of all trades are those which minister to
pleasure, as Terence teils us, " fishmongers, butchers,
Cooks, sausage -raakers ". Add to these, if you like,
perfumers, dancers, and the actors of the Ittdus
talarius, 151. But the leamed professions, such as
medicine, architecture, and the higher education,
from which society derives the greatest benefit, are

considered honourable occupations for those to whose

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social Position they are appropriate. Business on a

small Scale is despicable ; but if it is extensive and

imports commodities in large quantities from all the

World, and distributes them honestly^ it is not so

veiy discreditable ; nay^ if the merchant satiated^ or

rather satisfied, with the fortune he has made, retires

from the harbour and Steps into an estate, as once

he retumed to harbour from the sea, he deserves,

I think^ the highest respect. But of all sources of

wealth &rming is the best, the most agreeable, the

most profitable, the most noble. I have spoken of

the subject at length in my Cato Major from which

you may Supplement this chapter.

XLIII. — 152. I think I have said enough to show

how our duties are derived from the four divisions

of honour. But it is often necessary to compare

and contrast two honourable courses in order to

estimate their relative importance — a point omitted

by Panaetius. Honour in its widest sense Springs

frt>m four sources : prudence, fellow-feeling, fortitude,

and temperance, and it is often necessary to compare

these virtues in order to determine our duty. 153.

Now it is admitted that the duties which are founded

on the social instinct are more in harmony with nature

than those which are derived from prudence, and

this opinion may be confirmed by the following in-

stance. If it were given to a sage to live in perfect

affluence and ease absorbed in the study of the

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highest Problems of philosophy^ life vould be a bürden
to him, were he condemned to Isolation and never
saw the &ce of man. The first of all the virtues
is speculative wisdom which the Greeks call o-o^to.
We attach a diiFerent sense to <f>p6v7f(n^ or practical
wisdom, which is the science of distinguishing what
to pursue and what to avoid. But that which
^ I called the highest wisdom is the science of

!'\ ' ' ' things divine and human, and it is concemed with

the relations of men with each other and with
the gods. If that is the noblest virtue, which it
certainly is, then the duty connected with the
social instinct necessarily takes precedence of
t ^ all others. Moreover the study and contempla-

tion of the universe would seem stunted and
imperfect if it did not result in action. Action is
chiefly employed in protecting the interests of our
fellow-men ; it is therefore indispensable to society :
and consequently holds a higher rank than mere
speculation. 154. Such is the opinion of the noblest
men and it is attested by their conduct. Who, I ask,
could be so rapt in the investigation of the mysteries
of the universe, so absorbed in the contemplation of
the most sublime objects, that if suddenly apprised
that his country, his father, or his friend, was in
danger or distress, he would not abandon all his
studies and fly to the rescue, even if he imagined he

could number the stars and measure the immensity

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of Space? 155. From these arguments it is mani-
fest that the duties prescribed by justice are
superior to those which are connected with abstract
studies, for they concem the welfere of humanity ,^. ,. ^/-
which should be nearest to the heart of every . ^'
man.

XLIV. — Nevertheless many men have devoted\
their lives to speculation without renouncing the
duty of promoting the interests of society. Philo-
sophers teach men to be good Citizens and benefactors^
of their country. Thus Epaminondas of Thebes was
the pupil of Lysis the Pythagorean, and Dio of
Syracuse the pupil of Plato, and I could cite many
instances of the kind ; and any Service I myself may
have rendered to my country I ascribe to those
masters who trained and equipped me for public life.
156. The infiuence of these great men, whether
moral or intellectual, is not conveyed by the living
voice alone ; it is transmitted to posterity in their
written works. They neglect no subject that bears
on legislation, morality, or political science ; indeed
it may be said that it is to our affairs they devote their
leisure. Thus we see that even scholars and philo-
sophers apply their wisdom and insight principally to
the advantage of their fellow-men. Hence it follows
that eloquence united with wisdom is a more precious
gift than the highest wisdom devoid of eloquence,

because reflection is centred in itself, while eloquence

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embraces those with whom ve are united by common
interests. 157. As bees do not swarm for the purpose
of making the comb^ but make the comb because
they are gregarious by nature, so human beings,
endowed with a still stronger social instinct, think
and act in sympathy. Speculation would therefore
. seem forlom and harren of useful results if it were
> })^ -^*' V not conjoined with the social virtue which works for

'^ the maintenance of society, that is, the great brother-

\ I > * " hood of the human race. The same may be said of

\ . fortitude. If it had no relation to human society it

would be but a brutal and savage thing. From this

we conclude that the social virtues are superior to

merely speculative studies. 158. The theory is

false^ that society owes its existence to necessity,

or the inability of man to satisfy his natural wants

without the aid of others, that, if everything essen-

tial to a life of comfort were supplied to us as if

by a magic wand, every man of intellect would

retire from active work and devote his undivided

energies to study and leaming. Far from that,

he would shrink from isolation and look for some

one to join in his pursuits, his desire would be

to teach and leam, to hear and speak. Conse-

quently every duty tending to the preservation of

society is to be preferred to that which consists in

abstract study.

XLV. — 159. It may be necessary to inquire

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whether this sense of interdependence, which is the
deepest feeling in our nature, should also be pre-
ferred in every case to moderation and self-command.
I think not. For some things are so repulsive, others
so criminal, that a wise man could never do them even
to save bis country. Posidonius enumerates many
crimes of tbe kind^ but they are either so atrocious
or so obscene that it seems wrong even to mention
them. No one, I repeat, will commit such crimes for
the sake of his country ; nor will bis country demand
such a sacrifice. But the case is simplified by the
ßtct that circumstances cannot arise in which the
State will profit by the dishonour of a wise man.
1 60. We may therefore regard it as settled, that in
discriminating between several duties we should give
the preference to those which are connected with the
social instinct. Moreover, knowledge and prudence
will result in deliberate action. Consequently de-
liberate action Stands on a higher plane than
prudence without action. So much for this subject.
I have now cleared the ground so that it should not
be difiicult to discover which duty is to be preferred
in particular circumstances. £ven in our social
relations some duties are more important than others.
We are beholden first to the immortal gods, uext to
our country, then to our parents, and finally to the
rest of men in a descending scale. 161. This short

discussion may suffice to show that men are oflen

'j9\^

/•

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in doubt not only whether an action is right or
wrong, but which of two honourable courses has
the higher moral worth. This subject, as I said,
has been omitted by Panaetius. But I must now
proceed.

SECOND BOOK

I. — 1. I think^ Marcus, I have fully explained in
the preceding book how all our duties are derived
from honour, or rather from virtue in its widest sense.
I have now to treat of the duties which pertain to
infiuence and wealth and the necessities and oomforts
of life. (In dealing with these subjects, as I have
Said, we are often met vith the question : what is
expedient, what inexpedient, and how we can settle
the degrees of expedieney.) I now proceed to speak
of these duties, but I shall first say a few words in
vindication of my method and design.

2. Though my works have inspired many with the

love of reading and even of writing, I sometimes fear

that certain worthy people detest the very idea of / ^

philosophy and wonder that I spend so much time

and trouble on it. So long as our country was

x^govemed on constitutional principles I consecrated

to her Service all my eiForts and all my thoughts.

Bat when she feil under the rule of a despot and no

scope was left for statesmanship or personal infiuence,

^d finally when I had parted with my distinguished

A • • •

et f.'

f^-r >' *~*

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colleagues in the govemment, I did not surrender to

melancholy^ which would have overwhelmed me had

I not struggled against it^ nor on the other hand to

\^ sensual pleasure unworthy of a philosopher. 3. It

would have been well if our republie had been firmly

established on its uew foundation and if we had

not fallen into the hands of a party whose cry is not

for reform but for revolution. I should then have

devoted more attention to public speaking than to

writing, as my custom was while the republie still

endured, and I should not have composed a moral

treatise like the present but committed my orations

to writing as I have often done ere now. But when

the republie^ the centre of all my care, thought and

effort, was now no more^ my voice, alas, was silenced

in the forum and the Senate. 4. Still my mind could

not be idle; I therefore thought that my noblest

^^•^^^ -^^consolation in trouble was to retum to philosophy,

the study of my early youth. As a young man I

had given much time to the subject for the purpose

of improving my mind ; but when I took office and

threw myself heart and soul into the public ad-

ministration, I could only devote to study the leisure

that remained after I liad served my friends and my

<«--^untry ; and that was entirely spent in reading ; I

had no time to write. II. — 5. Yet despite the

greatest misfortunes I flatter myself I have done

some good in writing on subjects of profound interesi;

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hardly known among our countrymen. What, in

Heaven's name, is more desirable than wisdom, what

more excellent, what is better for man or more

worthy of bis nature? Those who aspire to it are

called philosophers, and philosophy^ when translated^

means nothing eise than the love of wisdom. Now,

aeeording to the definition of the ancient philosophers

wisdom is the science of things divine and human and

the causes on which they depend. If there is any

man who blames the love of such a study I hardly

See what he can find to praise. 6. Do you look for

amusement or relaxation? Then what can compare

with the pursuits of those who are always examining

some subject or other that makes for a good and

happy life ? Do you think of character and virtue,

then this is the method of attaining them or there is

none. To assert that, though there is invariably a

science of things even of small importance, there is no

science of the highest of all, is to speak without due

refiection and to blunder in a matter of the greatest

gravity. Besides, if there is a science of virtue, where

is it to be found if you leave these studies out of the

question? But that is a point which I discuss with

greater care in exhortations to the study of philo-

sophy such as are contained in another of my works.

All that I wished to explain here was my motive in

resorting to this particular pursuit after I was stripped

of my public functions.

6 81

• ». V

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7. — Even philosophers and scholars challenge me
with the question^ whether as a sceptie I am quite
consistent in expounding as I do the principles of
duty, or indeed of any other subject. I wish they
really understood the doctrines of our school. It is
not our opinion that the mind wanders in the dark
and has no fixed principles. What sort of reasoning,
nay, what sort of life would be possible if all the
principles of thought and action were abolished ? That
is not a fair picture of iis ; we only diifer from other
schools in describing things as probable or improbable
which they call certain or uncertain. 8. What should
prevent me from embracing any theory that appears
to me probable and rejecting the contrary; why
should I not avoid dogmatism and presumption
which are so remote from the true spirit of philo-
sophy ? All opinions, moreover^ are contested by our
school on the ground that this very probability could
not emerge without a comparatlve estimate of the
conflicting arguments. This whole question is, I
think, pretty thoroughly explained in my Academics.
As for you, my dear son, though you are engaged in
the study of an ancient and celebrated System of
philosophy under the guidance of Cratippus, a worthy
rival of the founders of his school, yet I did not wish
you to remain ignorant of our doctrines which are so
closely allied to yours. But I must proceed.

III. — 9« I have now laid down five principles for

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the investigation of duty. Two of these have to do
with decorum and honour^ two with extemal advan-
tages, such as wealth, position and influence, while
the fifth holds the balance when the others seem to
conflict. I have finished the subjeet of honour and I
hope it is now clear to you. I have next to deal with
what is eommonly called the expedient. In regard
to this Word the populär mind has stumbled and goue
astray. By degrees it has come to the point of
separating honour from expediency and assuming
that honour was possible apart from expediency and
expediency apart from honour^ an error fraught with
the most disastrous consequences to society. 10.
Certain philosophers of the highest authority make
a theoretical distinction between these three con-
ceptions though in themselves they are inseparable,
but I confess they do it on strict and conscientious
principles. (They hold that whatever is just is like-
wise expedient and that what is honourable is also
just ; consequently whatever is honourable is at the
same time expedient.) Unable to grasp this dis-
tinction men often admire the adroit and crafty, and
identify wisdom with cunning. But they must be
disabused of this error and brought round to the
hope and the conviction that they can attain their
objects by honourable designs and just conduct
instead of by craft and cunning.

11. — Now the things that tend to the niaintenance

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of human life are partly inanimate, such as gold,
silver, plants and the like^ and partly living beings
with their characteristic instincts and appetites. Of
living beings some are rational^ some irrational. The
latter class includes horses^ cattle and the other tarne
animals which serve by their labour to supply the
wants and maintaiu the life of man. Rational beings
are divided into two classes, gods and men. The
gods are appeased by a pious and holy life ; next to
the gods men are most useful to one another. 12.
A similar division may be made of things that are
hurtful to man. But, as the gods are supposed to do
no härm, philosophers leave them out of account and
hold that man is the worst enemy of man. Even the
advantages derived from inanimate things of which I
have spoken are for the most part procured by our
own energies and we should neither have possessed
them without the application of labour and skill, nor
enjoyed them without the aid of our fellow-men.
Medicine, navigation^ agriculture and the ingathering
and storing of com and other produce would not have
been possible but for human agency. 13. This is no
less true of the exportation of superfluities and the
importation of necessities. In like manner the stones
uecessary for our use would not be quarrled, nor iron,
copper^ gold and silver dug from the bowels of the
earth without the labour of man's band. IV. — What

other power, I ask^ could in the beginning have

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fumished the human race with dwellings to protect
them from cold and mitigate the discomforts of heat,
or how could these dwellings have been restored
after the ravages of storm, earthquake or time, had
not men leamed to look to one another for assist-
ance ? 14. Think, too^ of aqueducts, canals, irrigation
works, breakwaten, artificial harbours ; is it not to
the band of man that we owe them all ? From these
and many other cases it is manifest that without
human skill and energy we could never have enjoyed
the benefits and advantages which are derived from
things without life. Again^ without man's help how
could animals be utilised and made to serve our
convenience ? As men were the first to discover the
Utility of the various animals, so at this day without
their agency we could not pasture, break in, or pro-
tect animals or tum them to account at the proper
season, nor could we kill noxious animals and capture
those that are of use. 15. Why should I enumerate
the multitude of arts without which life would hardly
have deserved the name ? Where could the sick find
relief or the strong amusement, how could comfort
or even existence be possible, unless we had so many
arts to minister to our wants ? These are the sources
of civilisation which separates mankind by so wide
a gulf from the savage state of the brutes. It
was the concourse of men that made it possible to

build and people cities : then laws and customs wer^

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established, rights were fairly apportioned, and a

definite social System was adopted : gentleness and

modesty foUowed : life became more secure ; we gave

and we received, and by such exchange of possessions

and advantages we suceeeded in supplying all our

wants.

V. — 16. I have dwelt on this subject longer than

is neeessary. Is not the truth self-evident on which

Panaetius expatiates that no general in the field,

no statesman at home, could have perfonned great

or useftil actions without the zealous support of

other men ? He cites Themistocles, Pericles, Cyrus,

Agesilaus, Alexander, and asserts that without assist-

anee they could not have achieved so great success.

But in so obvious a case testimony is superfluous.

Moreover, as we derive great advantages from the

co-operation and sympathy of our fellow-men, so

there is no calamity too terrible for one man to

bring upon another. There is extant a book on

the destruction of human life by the great and

eloquent Peripatetic Dicaearchus. After enumerat-

ing the difTerent causes of death, such as inundation,

epidemic, desolation, the sudden irruption of wild

beasts which appearing in vast numbers have some-

times swept away entire tribes, he proves by com-

parison how many more men have been destroyed

by the violence of their fellows, that is, by war or

Revolution, than by all other calamities put together.

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17. Now as it is inoontestable that men do the
greatest good and the greatest härm to one another^
I maintain that it is the peculiär function of virtue
to win the hearts of men and attach them to our
interests. It is the business of the mechanical
occupations to utilise inanimate things and to em-
ploy and manage the Iower animals for the benefit
of man, in like manner we can only enlist in our
cause the prompt and ready serviee of our fellow-
men if we surpass them in wisdom and virtue. 18.
Indeed virtue as a whole may be said to centre in ]). /. r4^
three things. The first is to discover the essential
nature of everything, its relations, consequences, ^/t/;/^^^*^
origin, and cause ; the second to restrain the pas-
sions or waußr} as the Greeks call them, and to subject
the appetites, which they call opfjLtu, to the control
of reason ; the third is to deal with those who Sur-
round US in a moderate and sagacious spirit in
Order that with their support we may satisfy our
natural wants in the füllest measure, repel attack,
and Visit our aggressors with such retribution as
justice and humanity permit.

VI. — 19. 1 shall presently explain the means of
winning and retaining the devotion of our feUow-
men, but I must preface my explanation with another
remark. The powerful influence which fortune
wields for good or for evil is obvious to all. If

9he send^ a favouring breeze we are wafted to the

1. 1

#-*

tä»^ giTg^ ~n:ia^ imi «?-'^«^-^*^ ec ^leasls. dd. These, I

^anmaet, Rd Üie dcstnKÜon

vöjcä: posded zn receot times

«f £C£K3alSy like that

äC t^ pcpcL^ace, m. frcqoexit cause
I or v^'antarr exile of
patrwcäc cTffctfs <i^ <>■ ^^ otber hand pra^erity,
ccril and müftur distiaccSonSs. Tktones — all these
tfaöLs^ vhdber «rood er eviL depend indeed on
feftime bat are ohiinatehr detcmiiDed hj hmnan
agencT. Tbe in^ence of forbine bein^ deailj
andcistood, I go od to TTpl*»?^ the means of winning
the derotion of men and enlätüig it in <Mir sorice.
If Ulis ciiapter prore tedioas» consider the iiiipc»t-
ance of the resnlt and then it ma j eren seem too
shoit. 21. In omtriboting to the material or social
advancement of othos, mm aie inflnoiced by various
motives. They are prompted by lriiwii>tf»ss when they
haFc reason to loTe a man «- by respect if they
admire his character and think him worthy of the
most brilliant success; or they tnist a man and
belicFe he has their welfiire at heart^ or sometimes

they dread his power or they look for some advan-

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tage, as kings or demagogues do, whcn Ihry dlMpUy

their munificence, or finally they äfö ii'inpiod hy

bribeiy, the basest motive of all und ihr nuMi

degrading both to those who ttro ■Wüyrcl hy It

and to those who employ it as thoir litNirutiirnt.

22. It is a bad case when money takciN ihci pk((ti

of moral influence. Nevertheless it is M>miiilttM«N Mi

indispensable auxiliaiy, but before dts«icribin|i( liow li

is to be employed, I shall first ipeiik ot tluf mmim

whieh are more closely allied to viriue, V«irloM/v

moüves indnoe men to iubmit to the rulti Mui

aiidiontj of aootlier. They are nu9¥4ui hy hVti^

Üan, giatxtiide, ttspeet fm high »nk, Ihe \uf\m

of adnoUf^ tbe fear ei etftrt^cn; m itmy «r«

tamfUd bf tlie fntftet 0A tismwiA $mA hy Mf

tfcc kMt f4lM«; th«jr /ir^ /if^ily

wer hawE: nAe» ^ee» im 4M0^ ^j^i» r<^M»^/

\^—*3L « ^ die Msma ^ iMM«i»mf >^^,

te«i tte ww»t fear. Tfc^ ir#ir4« ^

a&imsible^ ^ife thtft ii» fear^^ m W/y<,

±0r :iB^ ittcg: a. oua mStAk kim 40»4 \

<saxL MdMCäMfi ehe h^beml a/ e)^

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desired haven, if an adverse blast we are dashed
upon the rocks. It is rarely that fortune assails us
with the hurricanes, tempests^ shipwrecks, catas-
trophes and conflagrations of the material world, or
the stings, bites, and attacks of beasts. 20. These, I
say, are exeeptional calamities. But the destruction
of annies, as of three which perished in recent times
and many others, the defeat of generals, like that
which but yesterday befel a great and remarkable
man, the hatred of the populace, a frequent cause
of the banishment, degradation or voluntary exile of
patriotic Citizens, and on the other band prosperity,
^^o^J^ civil and military distinctions, victories — all these
things, whether good or evil, depend indeed on
fortune but are ultimately determined by human
agency. The influence of fortune being clearly
understood, I go on to explain the means of winning
the devotion of men and enlisting it in our Service.
If this chapter prove tedious, consider the import-
ance of the result and then it may even seem too
short. 21. In contributing to the material or social
advancement of others, men are influenced by various
motives. They are prompted by kindness when they
have reason to love a man or by respect if they
admire bis character and think him worthy of the
most brilliant success ; or they trust a man and
believe he has their welfare at heart, or some times

they dread bis power or they look for some advan-

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tage, as kings or demagogues do, when they display

their munificence, or finally they are tempted by

bribery, the basest motive of all and the most

degrading both to those who are swayed by it

and to those who employ it as their instrument.

22. It is a bad case when money takes the place

of moral influence. Nevertheless it is sometimes an

indispensable auxiliary, but before deseribing how it

is to be employed, I shall first speak of the means

whlch are more closely allied to virtue. Various

motives induce men to submit to the rule and

authority of another. They are moved by affec-

tion, gratitude, respeet for high rank, the hope

of advantage, the fear of coercion; or they are

tempted by the prospect of reward and by fair

promises, and in the last place they are openly

bribed as we have often seen in our own republic.

VII. — 2S, Of all the means of maintaining power,

love is the best, the worst fear. The words of

Ennius are admirable : *' He that is feared is hated,

and they that hate a man wish him dead".

That no power can withstand the hatred of the

people, we lately realised as perhaps no generation

before us. Its fatal effect is seen not only in the

tragic end of the tyrant whose yoke our land

endured, nay to this hour endures even after his

death, but in the fate of all despots who seldom

escape the assassin's band. Fear is a poor guardian

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of lasting power ; love will keep it safe for ever. 24.

Let tyrants exercise cruelty, as a master does towards

his slaves when he cannot control them by other

means : but for a Citizen of a free State to equip

himself with the weapons of intimidation is the

height of madness. Though the Constitution be

crushed by the power of an individual^ though the

spirit of freedom be cowed, yet sooner or later they

rise again and assert themselves in silent expressions

of feeling or in the secret votes of the people.

Freedora^ if suppressed, only bites with keener fi&ng.

Let US then put away fear and cleave to love ; love

appeals to every heart, it is the surest means of

gaining safety^ influence and power ; in a word, it is

the key to success both in private and in public life.

For men involuntarily fear those whom they intimi-

date. 25. With what agonies of terror must not the

famous Dionysius the eider have been racked who

dreading the barber's razor used to singe his hair

with a buming coal ! Think of the life Alexander of

Pherae must have led! Historians teil us that he

was devoted to his wife Thebe. Nevertheless on

visiting her in her room after dinner he would

actually bid a barbarian tattooed like a Thracian

march before him with drawn sword. He also sent

in advance some of his attendants to search her

wardrobe and see that no weapon was concealed

among her clothes, Unhappy man^ to think iv

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branded barbarian more faithful than his own wife.
He was not mistaken, for on the suspicion of infi-
delity she slew him with her own hand« Indeed no
empire^ however powerful, can long sustain the pressure
of fear. 26. I may eite the fate of Phalaris whose
infamous cruelty is without parallel in the history
of the World. He did not fall by treachery like
Alexander^ whose fate 1 have just told ; he was not
slain by a handful of conspirators like our own last
tyrant, but the people of Agrigentum rose against
him with one accord. And I need hardly remind
you that the Macedonians one and all abandoned
Demetrius and espoused the cause of Pyrrhus^ and
that wheu the rule of the Lacedaemonians became
oppressive they were suddenly deserted by almost
all their allies who stood by as passive spectators of
the disaster of Leuctra. VI II. — Though I prefer to
draw my illustrations from the history of foreign
countries rather than from our own, I will permit
myself this Observation. So long as the empire of
the Roman people was founded not on injustice but
on beneficence, war was waged in the interests of the
allies or in the defence of the empire^ its eonclusion
was marked by acts of clemency or such a measure of
severity as circumstances demanded ; kings, civilised
nations and barbarous tribes found in the Senate a
haven of refiige; and the loftiest ambition of our
govemors and generals was to defend our province?

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and allies by fair and honourable conduct. 27. Otir
govemment could therefore have been more truly
described as a protectorate of the world^ than as an
emplre founded on force. Even before the time of
Sulla we were gradually losing hold of our habitual
policy, but after his victory we parted with it
altogether ; for after the terrible atrocities which he
perpetrated on Roman Citizens, we ceased to regard
anything as unjust to our allies. He tamished a
righteous cause by an unrighteous victory. Plant-
ing in the forum a spear, the emblem of public
auction, he sold off the effects of wealthy but
respectable people who were, to say the least, his
fellow-citizens, and yet he had the efirontery to
assert that he was only selling his booty. After him
came another tyrant who, gaining in an unholy cause
a victory still more shameful^ was not content to
confiscate the property of individual Citizens but
involved in one common calamity entire provinces
and oountries. 28. After he had oppressed and
ruined foreign tribes^ we saw him carry in triumph a
model of Massilia as if to prove to the world the loss
of our empire and celebrate the conquest of a city
without whose aid our generals never once triumphed
in their campaigns beyond the Alps. I should here
have adduced many other crimes committed on our
allies if the sun had ever shone on an3rthing more
shameful. But our punishment is deserved. For

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unless we had sufTered raany crimes to go un-

punished, never would one individual liave attained

such absolute power. Though the tyrant of our times

has few heirs to his wealth there are many to succeed

to his wicked ambition. 29. Never will the seeds of

civil war &il, so long as villains remember having

Seen and hope to see once more that bloody spear

which P. Sulla brandished when his kinsman was

dictator and again raised thirty-six years later in a

more accuised cause. Another Cornelius Sulla was a

clerk under the former dictator and under the latter a

city quaestor. When such rewards are held out, it

is evident that civil wars will never cease. Only the

walls of our city now remain and even they dread

the last desperate stroke ; the republic, alas, we have

lost for ever. To retum to my subject, we have

brought these disasters on our he.ids because we

wish to be feared rather than loved and respected.

If such retribution befel the tyranny of the Roman

people, what must individuals expect } But since it

is manifest how powerful is the influence of kindness^

how feeble that of fear^ I have next to explain the

easiest means of gaining the respect, the confidence

and the affection which we wish to enjoy. 30. We

do not all stand in the same need of affection;

for our object in life must in each case determine

whether we want many friends or should be satisfied

with a few. Faithful, loving and admiring friends

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we certainly all require ; it is the prime necessity of

life. Here there is little difference between high

and low, and both classes must cultivate friendship

with almost equal zeal. 31. We may not all require

in equal measure honour, &me and popularity, yet

the possession of these advantages will be of partieular

value to US in the acquisition of friends.

IX. — I have spoken of friendship in another essay,

entitled ''lÄelius". I have now to speak of glory.

Though I have written a work in two books on the

subject, I must glanee at it here, because it is a

valuable aid in the oonduct of important affairs.

Supreme and perfect glory consists of three things :

the love, the confidence ind the mingled admiration

and respeet of the people. To put it plainly and

coneisely, the afieetions of the people are won by

almost the sarae means as those of individuals. But

there is another avenue to the hearts of the multitude,

another means of stealing into the affections of

the people. 32. Of the three sentiments I have

just mentioned let us first consider affection and its

laws. Affection is ehiefly won by acts of kindness ;

or it is excited by kind intentions even though the

'^^ ' ^ outcome be disappointing ; again the hearts of the

people are strongly influenced by the mere eharaeter

and reputation for liberality, beneficence, justice,

honesty, and all the noble qualities that go to

form the gentleman. For as that which we call the

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honourable and decorous is pleasing in itself, attracts

US by its inner nature and outward aspect, and is

most conspicuous in the virtues I have named^ we

are compelled by Nature herseif to esteem those in

whom we believe these virtues reside. These are the

most important causes of esteem ; though I admit

there may be others of less consequence. 33. In

the next place, we shall obtain confidenee, if we

are supposed to unite prudence and justice. We

trust in those who appear to have greater sagacity

and foresight than ourselves and greater skill in

unravelling difficulties and meeting emergencies;

that is what the world considers practica! and

genuine prudence. We repose confidenee in just,

honest, and worthy men provided there is no sus-

picion of craft or malice about them ; and we think

ourselves justified in committing to them our lives,

our fortunes and our families. 34. Of these two

qualities justice inspires the greater confidenee; of

itself it is sufficient without the aid of prudence,

but prudence without justice is of no avail. Take

from a man his reputation for probity, and he is

hated and suspected in proportion to his crafl and

cunning. In a word, justice combined with prudence

will command all the confidenee we can desire;

justice without prudence will also be effective, but

prudence will be impotent without the aid of justice.

X. — 35. It may excite surprise that, despite the

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unanimous opinion of philosophers and my own re-

peated contention that virtue is indivisible, I am now

classifying its component parts on the assumption

that justice can exist without prudence. My reply

is that a degree of precision is employed in the

exaet investigation of abstract truth which is un-

necessary in a treatise adapted throughout to the

populär capacity. I therefore speak here like the

people, calling one man brave, another good, a

third prudent In dealing with populär concep-

tions we have to use populär and familiär language.

This was the praetiee of Panaetius. But I must

retum to my subject.

36. The third element of glory is^ to be considered

worthy of admiration and respect by our fellow-men.

Men admire in general what appears to them great

or what surpasses their ideas ; and in particular they

admire in any person the good qualities which

they did not expect to find. Hence they worship

and exalt to the skies those whom they believe to

possess certain eminent and extraordinary virtues and

regard with disdain and contempt those in whom they

find no trace of ability^ spirit, or energy. Not that

they despise every one of whom they have a bad

opinion. For when they find a man unscrupulous,

slanderous, dishonest, and armed with all the weapons

of injustice, they may not despise him but they

think ill of him. Therefore, as I have said, their

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contempt is directed against the good-for-nothing

fellows of the proverb who have no capacity for work,

no activity, no interest in anything. 37. On the

other hand men worship those whom they consider

pre-eminent in virtue, free from dishonour, and

superior to the vices which others resist with difficulty.

Those tempting tyrants, the pleasures of sense^ tear

most men away from virtue ; and most men quail

before the buming torch of pain : life and death,

wealth and want, profoundly move the feelings of all

the World. But when a man regards pleasure and

pain alike with lofty indifferenee and throws himself

with ardour into some great and noble cause, who

would not admire the splendour and beauty of his

charaeter ? XI. — 38. This moral sublimity excites

great admiration, but justice^ the touchstone of

worth, is rightly esteemed by the world as the

noblest of all the virtues. For no one can be just who

fears death, pain, exile and want, orwho would sacri-

fice justice to escape these evils. Another admirable

quality is indifferenee to money, and if we discover it

in any one we think he has stood the ordeal of fire, ^l^j ^ J f t

Justice, then, ^Ifils the three fundamental conditions ^

of glory ; it procures affection, because it seeks the

happiness of the greatest number, for the same

reason it inspires confidence, and it awakens admira-

tion because it regards with scom and disdain the

objects which most men passionately pursue.

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59. In every walk of life we require the support of

our fellow-men. Above all we must have fnends to

whom we may unbosom ourselves in familiär con-

versatioD, an advantage difiicult to obtain, unless we

are looked upon as honest men. Even the recluse

and the man who lives a retired life in the country

must have a eharaeter for justice ; and that is all

the more neeessary as without such a eharaeter they

can^have no safeguards to proteet them and will be

exposed to a variety of wrongs. 40. Again, in buying

and selling, hiring and letting, and in business trans-

actions generally, justice is essential to success. In

fact its influence is so powerful that even those who

maintain themselves by wrong-doing and crime

cannot live entirely without it. When a brigand

takes anything from an accomplice by force or by

fraud; his presence is no longer tolerated even in

such a band of miscreants, and should the captain

not distribute the spoil impartially, he would be

killed or deserted by Jiis comrades. Why, brigands

are even said to have a code of laws which they must

strictly observe. It was by his equitable distribution

of the spoil that the Ill3rrian bandit Bardulis of whom

we read in Theopompus gained so great power and

the Lusitanian Viriathus even greater. For a long

time Viriathus actually defied the armies and generals

of Rome, tili C. Laelius, sumamed the Wise, during

his praetorship completely shattered the power of his

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adversary and so quelled his spirit as to leave an easy

victory to his successors. If then the influence of

justice is so great as to stablish and strengthen the

power of brigands, how potent must it be in a well-

ordered State under the shelter of the law and its

tribunals. XII. — 41. Like the ancient Medes of

whom Herodotus speaks, I think our forefathers

founded the kingly office and raised to the throne

men of high character in order to enjoy a just

form of govemment. When oppressed by the strong,

the weak would appeal to one man of eminent

virtue who shielded them from wrong and establish-

ing justice on a firm foundation governed high and

low alike with impartial sway. The origin of law

was identical with that of monarchy. 42. Men

in all ages have aspired to equality of rights, for

without such equality there would be no rights. If

they attained their object through the justice and

virtue of one man, they were satisfied ; if unsuccessful,

they invented laws which were designed to speak to

all men at all times in one and the same voice. It

is therefore evident that the choice of rulers was

determined by their reputation for justice. If with

this virtue they united prudence nothing appeared

unattainable under their rule. We should, therefore,

diligently practise justice both for its own sake —

otherwise it is no justice — ^and because it will enhance

our honour and glory.

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As there is a science of accumulating wealth and
of so investing it that it may meet our current
expenditure on the necessaries and the luxuries of
life, so there must be a method of acquiring glory
and tuming it to account. 43. Yet Socrates has a
fiiie Observation that the straight road, " the short
cut," to glory is to strive to be that for which one
^' would wish to pass. It is a delusion to suppose that

JK 3- \ ^^^'^''i'^g glory can be founded on dissimulation,

^ ' vain ostentation, and studied words and looks. True

glory strikes root and spreads, everything unreal
soon falls like the blossoms, a lie cannot last. I could
cite many examples on the one side and the other^
but for the sake of brevity I shall confine myself to
one family. The fame of Tiberius Gracchus^ the son
of Publius, will live while the memory of Rome
endures, but his sons were scouted by loyal Citizens
in their lifetime, and since their death they have
been ranked among those whose murder was no
crime. He who would obtain true glory must
therefore perform the duties which justice enjoins.
These I have described in the preceding book.

XIII. — 44. The surest way of seeming what we are

is to be what we wish to be thought. But some rules

on the subject may not be out of place. If a young

man has a career of fame and distinction before him,

whether that depend on his father's name as in your

case^ Marcus, or on sorae lucky chance, the eyes of

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the World are tumed upon him^ his life and character

are scanned; there can be no obscurity for him, a

flood of light is tumed upon his every word and

action. 45. But if his youth be passed in the shade

because of his mean and obscure origin, as soon as he

reaehes manhood he must set his mind on some great

object and pursue it with unswerving zeal ; and he

will be the more confirmed in his resolution since the

World instead of being prejudieed against the young,

actually favours them. For a young man the passport

to popularity is military distinction, by which many

of our people signalised themselves in the olden time

when wars were almost incessant. Your early years,

however^ have fallen upon a war in which the one side

was distinguished for excess of crime, the other for

excess of misfortune. But when Pompey placed you

in command of a squadron of cavalry^ you eamed the

applause of the great man and his army by your skill

in riding and in throwing the javelin and in your

manly enduranoe of all the hardships of a soldier's

life. Alas ! your fame has perished with the republic.

The present treatise, however, does not concem you

personally, it deals with the subject in general : so I

must proceed. 46. As the work of the mind far

surpasses the work of the hands, so the objects to

which we apply our intellect and reason are prized

more highly than those which exercise the powers of

the body alone. The highest recommendation then

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that a young man can have is self-command^ filial
affection, and goodwül to bis kindred. But the
easiest road to favourable recognition is to attach
himself to great, wise, and patriotic men, for such a
connection creates the impression that one day he
will rival the modeis whom he has chosen for Imita-
tion. 47. When P. Rutilius was a young man, the
influence of the fiimily of P. Mucius contributed to
bis reputation for integrity and legal skill. As for
L. Crassus, even in bis early youth he had not to look
to others for help, but gained the highest renown by
conducting that glorious prosecution which is known
to all the World, and at an age when a man might
make a reputation as a Student, this seeond Demos-
thenes showed himself in the forum a master of an art
whieh without discredit to himself he might still have
been studying in private. XIV. — 4f8. Diseourse may
be divided into two kinds. The one is conversation,
the other sustained oratory. The latter, which we
call eloquence, is doubtless a better field for distinc-
tion, but as a means of winning favour a courteous
and affable manner can hardly be overrated. We
still possess letters from Philip to Alexander, from
Antipater to Cassander, and from Antigonus to
Philip. These three princes, who are among the
wisest in history, enjoin their sons to gain the
afPections of the people by words of kindness and to
humour their soldiers by friendly recognition. But

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an impassioned discourse will rouse the enthusiasm

of an entire nation. An eloquent and judicious

Speaker is held in high admiration and is supposed

to possess exeeptional insight and sagacity. If an

oration is at once dignified and moderate, nothing

ean excite greater admiration, especially if the Speaker

is a young man. 49. Various careers are open to the

orator, and in our own republic many young men have

made a reputation by their speeehes in the Senate or

before the people. But forensie oratory ofTers the

best opportunity of distinction. It is of two kinds —

the proseeution and the defence. Though the de-

fence brings greater credit, the proseeution has often

eamed public approbation. I have just spoken of

Crassus ; M . Antonius in his youth was no less

successful. It was in a proseeution too that the

eloquent P. Sulpieius won his laureis when he put on

trial that dangerous and turbulent Citizen C. Nor-

banus. 50. Still you should rarely come forward as

a prosecutor, and only in the public interest like

the orators I have cited, or for revenge like the two

Luculli, or to protect the oppressed, as I protected

the Sicilians, and Julius the Sardinians in the case

of Albucius. It was in another proseeution, that of

M. Aquilius, that L. Fufius proved his talent. This is

a thing to be done only once or at any rate not of ten :

if you are compelled to prosecute again and again,

you must do it as an act of homage to the republic,

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for it is never wrong to punish her enemies : but you
must set a limit. Only a heartless or a brutal man
would often seek to endanger the life or the civil
Status of bis fellow-citizens. It is at once dangerous
to the person of the pleader and a blot upon bis name
to eam the title of prosecutor : that was the fate
of M. Brutus^ a man of high birth^ and son of the
eniment Jurist. 51. Make it a rule never to prefer a
capital Charge against an innocent man ; it is always
a crime. What is so barbarous as to tum to the min
and destruction of good men the weapon of eloquence
which Nature has given us for the defence and pro-
tection of our fellows.^ But while we must never
accuse the innocent^ we should not scruple on occasion
to defend a guilty man, provided he is not a villain
or a reprobate. This is a law of society ; it is admitted
by usage ; it is human nature. A judge must in every
suit cleave to the truth, a pleader may at times
maintain what is plausible though not strictly true ;
still I should hesitate to record this opinion especi-
ally in a philosophical treatise, if I had not the
authority of Panaetius, the strictest of the Stoics.
It is always the defender who reaps the greatest
glory and credit, especially if he succours the weak
when they are deceived or oppressed by the strong.
I myself have done that on many occasions ; the most
notable instance occurred in my youth when I de-

fended Sex. Roscius of Ameria against the omni-

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potent Sulla. The omtion, as you know, is pub-

lished.

XV. — 52. Having described the duties which a

youDg man muBt perform in order to gain distinetion

I go on to speak of beneficence or liberality^ which is

of two sorts. It is shown in acts of kindness or in

gifts of money. The latter is the easier method^

especially for a rieh man ; but the former is more

noble^ more magnificent^ more worthy of a gentleman.

Both forms of beneficence imply a generous desire

to oblige ; money is withdrawn from the safe, while

kindness is a draught on our energies ; but bounty

taken from our substance drains the very spring of

generosity. Thus kindness kills kindness; for the

more good you do, the less you can do. 53, If our

beneficence consists in personal service, that is^ in

active work, the more benefits we confer, the more

Support shall we obtain from others in our generous

efforts^ and the habit of beneficence will make us

more disposed and better qualified to bestow our

favours. It is with justice that Philip in one of his

letters reproves his son Alexander for courting the

£ivour of the Macedonians by dispensing liberal gifts :

"What in the world," he says, "led you to look for

loyalty in those whom you corrupted with money?

Are you really trying to make the Macedonians hope

that you will one day be their attendant and pur-

veyor instead of their king?" It was a good idea

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to speak of the ''attendant and purveyor" because
Alexander's conduct was mean and unprincely, but
it was better still to call bounty corrupiion; for he
who takes a gift goes firom bad to worse and always
looks for more. 54. That was Philip's rebuke to
bis son but we may all take the lesson to heart.

t», , ,>^"« ^^-^-^ Benevolence, then, expressed in active service, is
^ ' ^> . doubtless more honourable, besides it has a wider

>^ sphere, and alFects a larger number for good^ yet

charity is sometimes a duty and we should not entirely
repudiate this form of kindness. Let us therefore
give of our substance to the deserving poor, but with
thrift and moderation. For many have run through
their patrimony by indiscreet giving. What foUy to
throw away the means of living as we please ! Be-
sides, robbery often foUows profuse liberality. When
the giver feels the pinch of want, he is forced to lay
hands on the goods of others, and, though his kindness
is intended to procure good-will, so fer is he from
winning the love of those to whom he gives that he
incurs the hatred of those whom he despoils. 55.
Therefore close not your purse so fast that it will not
open to a generous impulse, nor open it so that it gapes
to every passer-by, but set a limit, and let that limit
be determined by your means. In a word, re-
member the saying so often repeated by our people
that it has passed into a proverb : '' Bounty is a

bottomless pit". For what limit is possible when

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we are pressed by a succession of beggars, the one
more importunate than the other ?

XVI. — ^There are two kinds of givers — the prodigal
and the liberal. The prodigal squander their wealth
on public feasts and doles, on gladiatorial shows, on
plays and wild-beast fights, vanities the memory of
which lives for a moment if it lives at all. 56. The
liberal employ their means in ransoming prisoners
j&om the hands of brigands^ in paying the debts of
friends, and in helping them to settle their daughters
in life, or to make or enlarge their fortunes. I wonder
then what came over Theophrastus when he wrote Ins
book On BicheSy which among many noble thoughts
contains one absurd paradox. The author is never
done praising the rieh and elaborate appliances of
public spectacles^ and he considers it the highest
privilege of wealth to be able to afford such ex-
penditure. To my mind the form of liberality of
which \ )iave just given a few examples yields a
great^ and surer satisfaction. How much more true
and l^lling are the words of Aristotle when he rebukes
US because we see without surprise the vast sums that
are squandered on the amusement of the people. I
shall quote the passage. " If the inhabitants of a
beleaguered town are reduced to buying a pint of
water for a mina, at first the thing appears surprising
and incredible, but, upon reflection, we make allow-
«nee for necessity ; while these enormous sacrifices and

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gigantic outlays excite but little wonder ; yet in this

case there is no necessity to relieve, no dignity to

enhance, and the pleasure of the mob, which the most

frivolous may enjoy, lasts but a brief space and even

its memory perishes in the moment of satiety." 57.

His conclusion is excellent. ** These amusements

suit the taste of ehildren^ wenches, slaves, and slavish

fireemen, but can nowise find favour with the serious

man who values things at their tnie worth." I am

well aware that ever since the good old times it

has been the custom in our state to expect acts of

munificence from eminent Citizens in the course of

their aedileship. P. Crassus who was as rieh as his

sumame suggested performed with munificence the

functions of that office, and not long after L. Crassus

followed in his footsteps although he had for his col-

league Q. Mucius, the most moderate of men : these

were succeeded by C. Claudius, the son of Appius,

the Luculli, Hortensius, Silanus and many others.

But P. Lentulus during my consulate eclipsedall his

predecessors; and Scaurus followed his example. The

spectacles provided by my frlend Pompey in his second

consulate were also on a magnificent scale : but you

know my views on the whole matter. XVII. — 58.

On the other hand we should avoid the suspicion of

meanness. It was by declining the ofBce of aedile that

the wealthy Mamercus was defeated when he stood

for the consulate. Public munificence is justified; if

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it is demanded bj the people and appcoved, though

perhaps not desired, by honest citisens^ and if it

happens to be the best means of attaining some great

adyantage; only jou must foUow my example and

never exceed yoor means. Orestes lately signalised

himself in this manner by the open-air banquets

which he gave as a tithe-offering. Again nobody

blamed Marcus Seius for supplying com to the people

in time of dearth at one as the peck. By an outlay

which was not serious in itself and which in any case

was no disgrace to an aedile he succeeded in dis-

sipating the strong and inveterate prejudice which

had risen up against him. But the highest credit

of all was recently obtained by my friend Milo

who for the safety of the republic which was bound

up with mine bought a band of gladiators and crushed

all the frantic schemes of P. Clodius. Munificence, I

repeat, is only justified by necessity or utility. 59.

Even then moderation is the best rule. The able and

illustrious L. Philippus^ the son of Quintus, used to

boast that he had attained to the highest offices

without providing a Single public spectacle. Cotta

and Curio among others claimed the same merit and

I myself may perhaps be excused if 1 refer to my own

career with some measure of complacency. Consider-

ing the dignity of the offices to which, unlike all these

statesmen, 1 was unanimously elected at the earliest

legal date, the cost of my aedileship was quite in-

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significant. 60. Money is more wisely expended on

the construction of fortifications, docks, harbours,

aqueducts, and other works of public Utility. I admit

that gifts which are paid cash down, so to speak, yield

greater pleasure at the moment ; but public monu-

ments are a source of more enduring gratitude. As

for theatres^ colonnades, and new temples, my respect

foT Pompey's memory restrains me from condemning

them^ but they are not approved by the most eminent

philosophers^ among others my authority Panaetius

whom I have foUowed, though not slavishly^ through-

out this work, and Demetrius of Phalerum who de-

nounces Pericles, the greatest Greek of his time^ for

squandering so much money on the magnificent

Propylaea. I refer you to my De Republica where

the subject is treated in detail. In conclusion the

whole System of public benefactions is radically wrong^

and even when they are justified they should be

proportioned to our means and kept within the limits

of moderation. XVI 1 1. — 6 1 . In regard to the second

kind of giving which Springs from liberality our atti-

tude raust vary with circumstances. A man over-

whelmed with calamity is in quite a different case

from the man who is free from actual distress but

seeks to better his condition. 62. Generosity will

be more disposed to lend a helping band to the

unfortunate unless it happen that their misfortune

is deserved. Yet when people ask our aid not in

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Order to escape firom ruin but to rise to a higher level
we should nowise be churlish ; at the same time
discrimination and care are necessary in selecting
deserving cases. That is an excellent saying of
Ennius : " A benefit misplaced tums to a crime ". 63.
Service rendered to a good and grateful man has its
reward not only from the recipient but from society
at large. For liberality is best appreciated when
directed with judgment, and people praise it with the
more heart since the generosity of the great is like a
city of refuge to which every one can fly. Let us
therefore bestow as many benefits as possible and
benefits of such a nature that their memory will go
down to children and children's children and com-
mand their gratitude. All men detest ingratitude as
a wrong done to themselves inasmuch as it discourages
liberality and they regard the ingrate as the common
enemy of the poor. A form of generosity advan-
tageous to the state is the ransom of prisoners and
the relief of the poor : at one time this was the
distinctive virtue of our own order^ as Crassus has
proved by numerous examples in one of his orations.
This common form of charity I much prefer to the
lavish display of public spectacles. It befits the
character of great and serious men while ostentatious
munificence suggests the demagogue who tickles the
susceptibilities of the capricious mob. 64<. It is well
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exacting our due ; and in all our dealings, whether

buying or selling, hiring or letting, or fixing the

boundaries of houses and lands, we should be fair

and reasonable and ever ready to abate something of

our lawful rights and to do whatever seems possible

and even more to keep out of court. It is often

profitable as well as generous to yield a point. At

the same time it is our duty to guard our property,

for it would be criminal to let it slip through our

fingers. But we must never expose ourselves to the

suspicion of meanness or greed. It is unquestion-

ably the highest privilege of wealth to be able to do

good without sacrificing our patrimony. Hospitality^

another form of this virtue, is justly commended by

Theophrastus. It is most graceful, I think, in men of

distinction^ to open their doors to illustrious guests,

and it is an honour to the republic itself if foreigners

resident in our city are hospitably entertained.

Moreover, the social relations thus estabhshed will

ensure the acquisition of influenae and fiivour in foreign

lands, a great advantage for those who seek political

power by honourable means. Theophrastus relates

that Cimon exereised hospitality at Athens even

towards the people of his own ward : and that he

gave Orders to his bailifFs that every kindness should

be shown to any man of Lacia who presented himself

at his farm.

XIX. — 65. Active benevolence as distinct from

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charity is bestowed on the Community at large or {/^'^'^ .

on individual Citizens. A generous disposition to 7. ^r^^*
place our legal skill at the service of the greatest
number is a valuable means of advancing our power
and influence. Our forefathers had many excellent
usages but nothing does them greater honour than
the respect in which they always held the study
and Interpretation of our admirable System of civil
law. Up to these unsettled times this science
remained in the exclusive possession of the most
eminent Citizens. But it has now shared the fiite of
our public honours and all the degrees of official
preferment, and its glory is departed. This is the
more deplorable since we still possess a Jurist who is
officially the equal of all his predecessors but quite
their superior in legal leaming. Such personal inter-
position^ I repeat, is alike valued by society and
calculated to win the gratitude of our fellow-men.
^, Closely related to this branch of knowledge is the
gift of eloquence which leads to greater popularity
and distinction. What is more excellent than elo-
quence? Think of the admiration of the hearers,
the eager hopes of the helpless clients and the
gratitude that is eamed in pleading their case. It
was to eloquence, therefore, that our forefathers
assigned the highest rank among the arts of peace.
The orator, then, whose heart is in his work, and

who readily follows the good old custom of pleading
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without remuneration, has a wide field for the exerdse

of his generous patronage. 67. This would have been

the proper place to lament once more the deeadence

not to say the total extinetion of eloquence^ but I

fear my complaint may be construed as selfish. How

many great orators have we lost ! How few of any

promise remain ! What a dearth there is of talent,

what a Plethora of presumption ! It is not given to

all or even to many to be great jurists or orators, but

there are many other ways of helping our friends ;

we may get them promotion, recommend them to

judges and magistrates, watch over their interests

and procure them legal assistance both in and out of

court. By Services such as these we gain the greatest

credit and find the most extensive sphere for our

energies. 68. I need hardly warn you (the thing

is so obvious) never to offend one man in helping

another. We often injure others when it is against

our duty or our interest : if, inadvertently, we are

guilty of negligence ; if, designedly, of indiscretion.

If we involuntarily offend any one we should apologise

to him as best we can, showing the necessity of acting

as we did and the impossibility of acting otherwise,

and we should try by other acts of kindness to repair

the wrong we have done.

XX. — 69. When we help any one, we think either

of his character or his position. Now it is an easy as

it is a trite remark that in bestowing a favour we look

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to a man's morals and not to his circumstances. That

is all very well ; but in doing a Service would any

one really prefer the cause of the friendless man,

however worthy, to the favour of a man of wealth

and influence? We are most inclined to help the

man who öfters the most prompt and speedy reoom-

pense. But let us open our eyes and look at the

facts. No doubt our poor friend, if he is a worthy

man, may at least be sensible of a favour even though

he cannot retum it. Some one has happily said that

'* money kept is not repaid, and money repaid is not

kept ; but that the sense of favour remains when the

favour is repaid, and the favour is repaid when the

sense of it remains ". But the rieh, the great, the

prosperous will be obliged to no one : why, they

fancy they confer a kindness in accepting the greatest

favours, they even suspect ulterior motives, nay they

would rather die than 0¥m a patron or take the name

of dient. 70. On the other band, as the poor man

feels that anything that is done for him is done out

of regard for himself and not for his position, he

studies to make his gratitude piain not only to his

benefiftctor but to those from whom he expects help

— and they are many — ^and far from exaggerating he

de|Hreciates any little service he may do in retum.

Again observe that if you plead the case of a rieh and

prosperous man he alone is grateful to you or at most

his family ; but if your dient be honest and respect-

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able though poor^ all the worthy people of bis class

who form the mass of the Community will look to

you as a tower of defence. 71. I therefore think it

better to bestow a favour on the good than on the

rieh. By all means let us do our duty to men of

every rank, but, if we are in doubt, we cannot do

better than follow the advice of Themistocles. Some

one asked him whether he should give his daughter

in marriage to a good man without means or to a rieh

man without eharacter. '' For my part/' he replied,

'^ I prefer a man without money to raoney without a

man." In these days we are utterly demoralised by

the worship of wealth : and after all what is it to you

or me ? It is perhaps a blessing to its possessor, but

not always. Suppose it is : he may have more to

spend, I admit, but for all that is he the better man ?

If, however, he is good as well as rieh, his wealth

should not induce us to serve him though it need not

prevent us : in short, we should look to worth and

not to wealth. My last rule on the subject of active

kindness is, never strive to attain your object in

defiance of right or in the cause of wrong. No repu-

tation can endure that is not founded on justice,

without which nothing can be worthy of praise.

XXI. — 72. I now pass from the benefits which

ooncem individuals to those which touch the state or

the whole body of Citizens. Of these public benefits

some affect all the Citizens indiscriminately, others

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individuab alone ; the latter are more highly piized.
We should as £Bur as possible consult the interests of
both, but the service we render to individual Citizens
should always be usefiil or at least not prejudicial to
the State. While C. Gracchus well-nigh drained the
exchequer by the distribution of com on a great scale^
M. Octavius satisfied the wants of the masses by a
moderate dole which was no great bürden to the
republic: the measure was therefore a blessing at
once to the individual and to the Community. 73.
The first duty of a statesman is to provide for the
security of private property and prevent it from being
alienated by public authority. The tribune Philip
set a pemicious example in proposing bis agrarian
law. When the bill was thrown out, he took bis
defeat with a good grace and displayed unusual
moderation. But in bis address to the people, the
tone of which was fair on the whole, he committed
a blunder when he said that there were not two
thousand proprietors in Rome. The language is
criminal and a direct incentive to socialism, the most
pemicious System that can be conceived. Indeed it
was principally for tiie protection of property that
States and municipalities were first established. For
though men are naturally gregarious^ they first sought
the protection of cities with a view to the security
of their possessions. 74. Another duty of a states-
man is to prevent the imposition of a property tax^

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a measure which was often forced upon our ancestors

by financial embarrassment and incessant wars ; and

to avert this evil he must lay his plaiis long before-

hand. But if any State has to face the necessity of

such a bürden (I am speaking generally and I would

rather forebode misch ief to others than to ourselves),

an efPort should be made to convince the people that

for their own safety they must bow to the inevitable.

Again^ a statesman must provide an abundant supply

of the necessaries of hfe. It is needless to discuss

the ways and means ; they are obvious : suflice it to

mention the subject.

75. In the public administration the chief thing is

to avoid the faintest suspicion of cupidity. " Would

to heaven/' said C. Pontius^ the Samnite, ''it had

been my fortune to be bom in the days when the

Romans began to accept bribes I I should not have

let them rule very long." Verily, he must have

waited many generations ; for it is not long since this

mischief befell our country. I am not sorry that

Pontius lived then rather than now^ if he really had

so much power. Barely a hundred and ten years ago

L. Piso brought forward the first law dealing with

extortion. But since his time many measures have

been passed, the one more stringent than the other ;

and when I think of the countless prosecutions and

convictions that have occurred^ of the terrible war

that was kindled by those who feared a similar fate,

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of the suppression of the law and its tribunals, and

of the cruel spoliation of our allies, I cannot help

exclaiming that we owe our power to the weakness

of others and not to our own strength. XXII. — 76.

Panaetius praises Afiricanus for his purity in public

life. The compliment is just, but that was not his

greatest virtue. The merit of olficial purity was not

confined to him, it was characteristic of his age.

Paulus having captured the vast treasures of Mace-

donia so replenished the public cofPers that the booty

of one Commander abolished the tax on property for

all time to come ; but he brought nothing to his own

home except the glory of an immortal name. Afri-

canus, foUowing his fiither's example, was none the

richer for the destruction of Carthage. Take, again,

the case of L. Mummius, his colleague in the

censorship. Was he one whit the richer for razing

to the ground the riebest city in the world ? No, he

preferred to embellish his country rather than his

home. Yet in adoming Italy he appears to me to

have adomed his home still more. 77. To retum to

my subject, no vice is more repulsive than cupidity,

especially in eminent public men. It is iniamous,

outrageous, execrable to exploit the State. The

Pythian Apollo, in predicting that Sparta would only

perish through her own rapacity, must have addressed

his oracular words to all wealthy nations as well as

to the Lacedaemonians. For the politician, then, the

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easiest method of gaining populär esteem is to be

pure and disinterested in his public conduct. 78.

Demagogues who with tbeir agrarian scbemes drive

the tenant from his home or propose the abolitton of

debts sap the very foundations of the Commonwealth.

Concord is impossible when one man is enriched at

the expense of another, and equity is utterly abolished

if the rights of property are not respected. The

function, I repeat, of the State and the city^ is to

secure to the individual the free and undisturbed

enjbyment of his property. 79. Besides, these re-

volutionists defeat tbeir own object The man who

is robbed of his goods is tbeir enemy, the man to

whora they are given actually professes that iie did

not wish to receive them ; in particular^ the debtor

hides his joy for fear of betraying his insolvency.

On the other band, the victim of injustice remembers

the wrong and openly expresses his resentment,

and even if those who gain by injustice outnumber

those who lose, they are not necessarily stronger.

Here the test is weiglit, not number. Where is

the justice in handing over to a stranger an estate

taken from one who has held it by a title established

for years or perhaps generations ? XXIII. — 80. It

was for iniquities of this kind that the Lacedae-

monians banished the Ephor Lysander and put to

death King Agis, an act without precedent in tbeir

history. Such furious discord ensued that tyrants

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sprang up, the nobles were expatriated and the
State with its glorious Constitution crumbled away.
But in its downfall it was not alone; it dragged
with it to destruction the rest of Greece, for the
mischief beginning at Lacedaemon travelled like a
plague farther and farther. To tum to our oMm
history^ need I remind you of the fate of the Gracchi,
sons of the great Ti. Gracchus, and grandsons of
Africanus, who perished in agrarian strife ? 81. All
honour to Aratus of Sicyon, who, when his native
city had been fifty years in the hands of tyrants, set
out from Sparta for Sicyon, stole into the city and took
it by surprise. He crushed the tyrant Nicocles, re-
called from exile six hundred of his countrymen who
had been the wealthiest Citizens in the State and by
his advent set the republic free. But he found great
difiiculty in dealing with property and its occu{mncy.
On the one band he thought it most unjust that the
restored exiles, whose property had been seized by
others, should sufTer from want, on the other it
seemed hardly fair to disturb a tenure of fifty years'
duration because in this long interval many of the
holdings had passed by inheritance, purchase, or
marriage, into innocent hands. He therefore decided
that it was wrong to dispossess the occupants or
to refuse compensation to the rightful owners. 82.
Finding that money was necessary to settle the difii-
culty, he announced that he was going to Alexandria

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and ordered that things should remain as they were

until his retum. So he hastened to the court of

Ptolemy^ an old frlend of his family, the second

king of Egypt after the foundation of Alexandria,

explained to the wealthy monarch his desire to set

his country free, and laid before him the position of

afPairs. Thus he easily succeeded in obtaining the

grant of a large sum for his purpose. Retuming with

this to Sicyon, he formed a committee of fifteen

eminent Citizens with whom he investigated the

rights of the actual and of the former oecupants ;

he prevailed upon some on the one side to quit their

holdings and aecept an equivalent in money at a

valuation and he convinced some on the other side

that it would be more to their interest to take a fair

price than to recover their lands. So he contrived

to make peace and send away both parties satisfied.

83. Here was a great man! Would that we eould

Claim him as our countryman ! This is the model

policy; it would have S{>ared us these two dark

scenes when the spear was planted in the forum and

the goods of Roman Citizens were brought to the

hammer by the public crier. Not so our noble

Greek ; like a wise and great man he consulted the

welfare of all without distinction. Thus it is the

soundest policy and the truest patriotism not to

sever the interests of our countrymen but to unite

all under one impartial rule. Let each live in his

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CiCEftÖ

neighbour's house rent-free. Why so ? After 1 have
bought it, and built it, kept it up, and spent my
money on it, do you mean to say that you are to
have all the good of it in spite of me ? What is
that but robbing one man to give to another?

84. But what is the purpose of cancelling accounts ?
Is it not that you may buy a piece of land with my
money, and you get the land while I lose my money ?
XXIV. — Debt must be checked ; it is a great public
evil which may be met in many ways. But the debt
onee made, the debtor should not be allowed to enrich
himself at the expense of the wealthy ereditor. For
nothing knits a state together like credit, and credit
cannot exist unless the payment of debts is con-
sidered binding. Never was there a stronger move-
ment for repudiation than in my consulate. Men of
every rank and condition rose in arms to fight for
the cause : but my vigorous resistance swept the
plague for ever from our land. Debts were never
greater, and never were they better or more readily
discharged ; for when the hope of spoliation was
gone, the debtor was compelled to {>ay. The tyrant
of our times, however, with no ]>ersonal interest
to serve, accomplished in the hour of triumph the
designs which he had couceived in the days of his
defeat. He loved sin so much that he sinned for
the mere pleasure of it.

85. Statesmen, therefore, will do well to abstain

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from a form of liberality which robs one man to

enrich another. Their first care will be to secure

the rights of property by the equity of the law and

its tribunals. They will save the poor and weak

from the snares that are laid for them^ and the rieh

from the envy which would hinder them from keeping

or recovering their own. Moreover, in peace and in

war they will use every means to increase the power,

the territory, and the revenue of the State. Such is

the mission of our great men, such was the practice

of our ancestors ; and those who steadily perform the

duties described will at once confer signal advantage

on the Community and acquire the greatest popularity

and glory.

86. The Stoic philosopher, Antipater of Tjn-e, who

recently died at Athens, holds that Panaetius has

omitted from the rules of expediency the care of health

and property : the great philosopher, I imagine, makes

no mention of these duties, because they are obvious ;

they certainly are expedient. I will, however, say a

few words on the subject. To preserve our health

we must study our Constitution, observe what is good

or bad for us, be temperate in all our liabits, abstain

from sensual pleasure, and finally we may have

recourse to medical skill. 87. Property should be

acquired by honourable means and preserved and

increased by care and thrift. Xenophon, the pupil

of Socrates, has treated these questions most happily

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in bis Oeconomicus, which I translated from Greek

into Latin when I was just about your age. But tbe

wbole subject of making, investing^ and, I wisb I

could bave said, of spending money is more appro-

priately discussed by our worthy friends on " Change "

than by philosophers of any sect. Still these ques-

tions deserve study ; for they concem expediency, ^

which is the subject of this book.

XXV. — 88. It is often necessary to discover the

various degrees of expediency in things. This, as

I Said, is the fourth head omitted by Panaetius.

Physical are compared with extemal advantages,

physical with each other, external with extemal.

In comparing physica] with external advantages one

might say that he preferred health to riches (extemal

advantages are contrasted with physical when, for

instance, we say that we would rather be wealthy

than possess the greatest physical strength) ; physical

advantages are balanced thus : ** I prefer good health

to sensual pleasure, strength to agility " ; finally,

when we set the gifts of fortune one against another,

glory may seem superior to wealth, a city income to

a country income. 89* The saying of Cato the eider

is an example of this kind of comparison. Some one

asked him what was the best rule in farming. He re-

plied, * ' Good pasture " . The second ? * ' Fair pasture.' '

The third ? " Poor pasture." The fourth > " Agri-

culture." The other continued his queries : " What of

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usury ? " Cato answered^ " What of murder ? " This
example and many others that I could cite prove that
actions are often compared in respect of expediency,
and that this fourth division deserved a place in our
moral inquiries. I pass to the other divisions of my
subject.

126

THIRD BOOK

I. — 1. My dear Marcus, the first Scipio Africanus

was accostomed to say, as we leam from Cato, his

contemporary, that he was never less idle than when

idle^ never less alone than when alone — a truly noble r ^ ' . .

sentiment^ worthy of a great and wise man. It '*'*'*

proves to us that he was wont to think of public

afiajrs in his hours of idleness and that even in

solitude he would commune with himself so that he

never was at rest and seldom craved for Company.

Idleness and solitude — those two things which bring

weariness to others — were nothing but a spur to him.

I wish I could honestly say the same of myself.

But if I cannot emulate his lofty spirit, it is not for

lack of good intention. Driven from political and

forensic employment by force and godless arms I

now lead a life of leisure. That is the cause of my

leaving the city and travelling in the country where

I offcen am alone. 2. But my leisure is not that of

Africanus, nor my solitude his. It was in order to

rest frpni the most honourable public duties that he

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j i\A - ' ^^ times sought leisure and withdrew from the bustle

f ; ^ 1- ,;, of the crowd into the haven of solitude. But my

leisure comes from lack of oecupation, not from love

of repose. Now that the senate is abolished and the

law-eourts effaced, what honourable employment can

I find in the senate-house or the forum ? 3. I who

onee lived in the greatest publieity, exposed to the

gaze of my fellow- Citizens^ have now to shun the

sight of the miscreants with whom the city swarms,

and live as fiir as possible in concealment and often I

am alone. But having been taught by philosophers

not only to choose the lesser evil but even to extraet

whatever good is in it, I try to make the best of my

life of retirement. Though it is hardly the peaceful

repose that should have been in störe for a man who

once procured peace for his country, yet I will not

stagnate in the isolation which necessity, not choice,

has imposed upon me. 4. Africanus, I admit, attained

a higher degree of merit. If he left behind him no

written works^ no produet of his leisure, no fruit of

his solitude, we must conelude that it was on aceount

of his intellectual activity and the investigation of

the Problems which occupied his mind that he never

feit idle or lonely. But I^ who have not the strength

of character to seek relief from solitude in silent con-

^ templation, bring all my thoughts and efforts to bear

upon my present literary work. Aceordingly in the

brief period that has elapsed since the dowofiUl q{

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the republic I have written more than I did during

the long years of her prosperity.

II. — 5. The whole domain of philosophy, my dear

son, is fertile and fruitiul, no part of it is harren or

waste ; hut there is no field in it more rieh and pro- , , ...

ductive than that of the moral duties from which.we ^* ^ ■ '/.■',4

derive the principles of a consistent and honourable

life. I feel sure that in the school of Cratippus, the

first philosopher of the age, you listen with attention

and profit to these valuable precepts. But I think it

is well that they should be dinned into your ears at

every tum, and that you should, if possible, hear

nothing eise. 6. These lessons should be laid to heart

by all who intend to lead an honourable life, but per-

haps by no one more than by you. For it is your duty to

fiilfil the sanguine anticipations of all that one day you

will rival my energy, my eminence, and perhaps my

renown. Moreover, you have incurred heavy obliga-

tions to Athens and Cratippus. You resorted to them

to purchase as it were a störe of good principles.

What a discredit it would be to you to retum empty-

handed ; what an afiront to the high reputation of

that city and your teacher ! I would therefore have

you strain every faculty and grudge no labour to

ensure success — if study is not a pleasure rather than

a labour — and never expose yourself to the imputation

of having neglected the opportunities which my help

has placed within your reach. But enough on this
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CICERO

point: for I have often written to you letters of

encouragement. I now retum to the last division

of my subject.

7. The great moralist Panaetius^ whose System I

have adopted with slight modifications, proposed a

triple Classification of ethical problems. In the first

place the question may be asked if the act under

; ' " ' discussion is moral or immoral. Again, is it useful or

prejudicial ? Finally^ if that which has the appear-

ance of right clashes with what seems expedient^

how are we to settle the difficulty ? He treated two

of these divisions in his first three books, and an-

nounced that he would speak of the third in its

proper place, but he never fulfiUed his promise. 8.

This is the more astonishing as his pupil Posi-

donius informs us that Panaetius lived for thirty

years after the publication of his book. I am

no less surprised that Posidonius merely glances at

the subject in one of his lectures, especially as he

admits that it is the most important in the whole

field of philosophy. 9* But I cannot accept the

theory that Panaetius did not overlook but purposely

omitted the subject, and that in no case should he

have touched upon it, because the expedient can

never come into conflict with the honourable. With

regard to this assertion it may be open to doubt

whether this question which forms the third division

pf Panaetius should have been included in his scheme

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CICERO

or entirely omitted ; certain it is, that he took it up

and then abandoned it. If you have finished two-

thirds of a subject, you necessaiily have one-third

left Besides, at the end of his third book he

promises to speak of it in the course of his inquiry.

10. We have in addition the valuable testimony

of Posidonius, who teils us in one of his letters that

P. Rutilius Rufus, another student of Panaetius, used

to say that as no artist had been found to complete

the Venus of Cos which Apelles had left unfinished^

because any one who beheld the beautifiil face de-

spaired of painting a figure to mateh^ so the treatise

of Panaetius was so perfect that no one dared to

supply what he had omitted.

III. — 11. On these grounds there is no doubt

about the Intention of Panaetius ; but it is perhaps

open to question whether he would have been right

in adding this third division to his moral investiga-

tions. For whether you maintain with the Stoics,

that the honourable is the only good, or with your

Peripatetics, that it is so great a good that all others

if plaeed in the opposite scale have hardly an atom's

weight, this at least is certain that the expedient can

never clash with the honourable. Socrates, we are

told, used to execrate those who first wantonly severed

two conceptions so essentially inseparable ; and the

Stoics who have adopted his theory consider every-

tbing that is honourable expedient and nothing

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CICERO

expedient that is not honourable. 12. If Panaetius

had roaintained that virtue was to be cultivated only

for the sake of the advantages which it brings, as

certain philosophers make pleasure or exemption

from pain the Standard of happiness, he would have

been free to assert that the expedient sometimes

conflicts with the honourable. But as he holds that

^ virtue is the only good and that whatever runs

-^^^ counter to it has only the semblance of expediency

and can neither make life better by its presence nor

worse by its absence^ I think he would not have been

justified in raising a class of questions involving the

comparison of honour with apparent expediency. 13.

For when the Stoies contend that the highest good

is to live in conformity with nature, they mean, I

suppose, that we are always to aet in harmony with

virtue and only to choose other things which are in

accordance with nature if they are not incompatible

with virtue. Such are the arguments that have led

a certain school to think that the comjiarison of the

honourable and the expedient was from the first ille-

gitimate and that it was not a subject for didactic

treatment. But honour in its philosophical or ideal

sense is the exclusive possession of the wise and is

J , . *•? inseparable from virtue. Men of imperfect wisdom

may perhaps arrive at the semblance but never at the

.'*" ■ ' ' reality of perfect moral rectitude. 14. The duties

now before us are those which the Stoies call the

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ordinary duties ; they are common to all and open io
all, indeed they are often attained by natural good-
ness and progress in leaming. As for the duty which
they call right, it is absolute perfection complete in
all its parts, and^ as they also assert^ accessible to
none but the wise. 15. But an action which displays
the characteristics of the ordinary duties seems to
the vulgär abundantly perfect because they hardly
ever see where it falls short of perfection, and as
far as their intelligence goes they can trace no de-
fect. The same thing happens every day in regard
to poems, paintings, and other works of art. Ordin-
ary people admire and praise works of no merit.
There is, I suppose, something in them to catch the
fancy of the vulgär, who are too ignorant to dis-
cover any thing wrong. So when the connoisseur
sets them right they readily waive their opinion.
IV. — The duties under discussion in the present
work are, in the language of the Stoics, the ordi-
nary virtues which are not peculiar to the wise
but common to mankind. l6. They are such as
appeal to men of inbred virtue. When we point to
the two Decii or the two Scipios as heroes, or to
Fabricius as a just man^ we do not adduce them as
examples of the ideal fortitude or justice which we
look for in the sage. Not one of them realises our
conception of wisdom. Even such men as M. Cato^

C. Laelius, or the famous Seven themselves were no

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sages, although they had the reputation and tfae

title. It was only through the constant practice of

the ordinary duties that they wore the similitude

and appearance of wisdom. 17. It is never right to

eompare ideal virtue with conflicting expediency nor

extemal advantages with the ordinary virtue which

is practised by those who wish to be aeeounted

worthy people. But we should guard the honour

which is within our capacity as jealously as the sage

his true and genuine honour ; otherwise the progress

we may have made in the path of virtue cannot be

maintained. I have said enough of those who eam

the name of worthy men by the observance of duty.

18. Those^ on the other hand^ who weigh all things

in the scales of self-interest and refuse to give the

preponderance to honour, are aecustomed in their

ealeulations to eompare the honourable with that

which they suppose to be expedient. Not so the

good man. I therefore think that in saying that

people were aecustomed to waver in tliis comparison

Panaetius literally meant that that was their custom

but not their duty. To eompare the seemingly

expedient with the honourable and hesitate for one

moment in our choice is as clearly wrong as to prefer

the one to the other. In what circumstances, then,

is there room for doubt and deliberation P It is,

I imagine, when a difficulty arises as to the quality

of any action we may be considering. 19. For in

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exceptional circumstances that which is commonly
held to be wrong is found on reflection not to be
wrong. I shall illustrate my meaning by a special
case which, however^ has a general bearing. There
is no greater crime than to murder a fellow-man,
especially a friend. Still who would say that he
commits a crime who assassinates a tyrant^ however
close a friend? The people of Roroe, I teil you^
think it no crime, but the noblest of all noble deeds.
Did expediency here triumph over virtue ? No, v
virtue followed in the train of expediency.

If we would accurately determine the apparent
conflict between what we call the expedient and
that which we understand by the honourable, some
criterion must be established to guide us in our com-
panson and save us from swerving from duty. 20.
Now it will be found that this criterion is most in
harmony with the System and principles of the Stoics.
Though the old Academics and your Peripatetics, who
once were a branch of the same sect, prefer the honour-
able to the expedient, I here foUow the System of
the Stoics because the principles of duty are more
impressively expounded by a school which identifies
honour and expediency than by those who hold that
in special circumstances the honourable is not expe-
dient nor the expedient honourable. Besides, our
Academy grants us füll permission and authority

to maintain any theory that has the balance of

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probability in its favour. But I retum to our guiding

principle.

V. — 21. To rob your neighbour^ or to aggrandise

yourself at the cost of another is more repugnant to

nature than death, want^ p&in^ or any other evils,

physical or extemal. In the first place^ injustice is

fatal to human fellowship and society. The dis-

position to plunder or wrong your neighbour for your

own advantage iiivolves the min of society which

of all things is most in harmony with nature. 22. If

each of our limbs were conscious and thought it

might be stronger if it drew to itself the soundness

of the next, the whole body could not but wither

and die ; in like manner, if each of us should seize

the advantages of others and wrest firom tbem all he

could for his own profit, the union and brotherhood

of mankind would inevitably be subverted. That a

man should prefer to eam a living for himself rather

than for his neighlx>ur is not repugnant to the natural

sense of justice : what nature does forbid is that he

should despoil others in order to augment his own

wealth and influence. 2.3. For it is ordained not

only by the law of nature, or rather the law of

nations, but also by the Statutes of particular com-

munities on which their Constitution depends that no

one shall be permitted to injure another for his own

advantage. The maintenance of civic life is the end

and aim of the laws, and any attempt to dissolve society

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is repressed wit i fines, imprisomnent^ exile and death.

In the second place, this principle is more clearly

demonstrated by universal reason^ which is the law

at once of gods and men : and whosoever hearkens

to her voiee— or lives according to nature — will never / ;^ '. ^

cövet his neighbour's goods, or appropriate what '* i<^,^

he has wrested from another. 24. For fortitude^ niag-

nanimity, courtesy, justice, liberality are much more

in harmony with nature than pleasure or riches, or even

life itself, which the great and lofty spirit will despise

and count as naught in comparison with the common

weal. (To despoil another in order to enrich oneself

is more opposed to nature than death, pain, or any

other evils of the kind.) 25. Further, it is more in

accordance with nature to undergo the greatest toils

and brave the greatest hardships in protecting or

succouring the nations of the world, if that should be

our fortune, and to emulate the famous Hercules,

whom the legends of grateful posterity placed in the

assembly of the gods, than to live in Isolation, not

only free from care, but revelling in pleasure,

abounding in wealth, and excelling in beauty and

strength. Of these two lives the best and noblest ^~ • ^^«^^

natures flu* prefer the first, and from this it foUows

that one who obeys nature will never härm his

fellow-men. 26. In the next place, he who wrongs

his neighbour from some selfish motive either

imagines that he is not acting in defiance of nature

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or thiDks that death, poverty, pain, e ^en the loss of
children, kinsmen and friends are mori^ to be avoided
than acts of injustice. If he thinks he does not
infringe the laws of nature by injuring his fellows,
how are you to argue with one who takes from man
all that makes him man? But if he holds that
injustice is indeed an evil to be shunned but that
/•. /^ other evils are irameasurably greater, as death^ want^

// ^^ (■ ^ ' II P**"^' ^^ is wrong and deceives himself in thinkingthat

evils physical or extemal are more serious than moral
•'" ^^^^^ evils. VI. — It should be the grand aim of every
human being to make the interest of each the interest
of all ; where every man struggles for himself, there
is an end to human fellowship. 27. Further, if nature
ordains that one man shall help another, just because
he is his fellow-man, it follows that according to
nature the interests of individuals are identical with

•

the interests of the Community. If that is so, we are

bound together by one and the same law of nature,

and if that again is true, we are surely forbidden to

do wrong to another. 28. The antecedent being

true, the consequent is likewise true. It is absurd

for people to say that they will not despoil a fiither

or a brother for their own advantage but that

fellow-citizens stand on quite a different footing.

That is practically to assert that they are bound to

their fellow-citizens neither by mutual obligations,

social ties, nor common interests. But such a theory

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tears in pieces the whole fabric of civil Society.

Others again who deny the rights of aliens while

respecting those of their countrymen, destroy the

universal brotherhood of mankind^ which involves in

its ruin beneficence, liberality, goodness and justice.

To destroy these virtues is to sin against the im-

mortal gods. It is to subvert that society which

the gods established among men, of which the

strongest bond is the conviction that it is more

repugnant to nature to rob another for one's own

good than to endure all evils external, physical,

or even moral, so far as they are not concerned

with justice; for justice is the sovereign-mistress \^. ^i^ .

and queen of all the virtues. 29- Perhaps the ^ ^'^

question may be asked : " If the sage were starv-

ing of hunger, would he not snatch a piece of

bread from some good-for-nothing wretch ? " (By

no means. For the disposition not to injure any

man for my own advantage is dearer to me than life.)

Here is another question. If a righteous man were

perishing of cold, would he not, if he could, rob a

cruel and inhuman tyrant like Phalaris of his cloth-

ing ? These are problems which it is easy to solve.

30. If you plundered a worthless man for your own

advantage, it would be heartless and against the law

of nature : but if you plundered him because your

life, if prolonged, would be a benefit to your country

and human society, the end would justify the means. ^/^ c ,

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In other circumstances^ a man should bear bis own
misfortune rather than trench upon the good fortune
of another. Neither sickness nor want^ nor any
other evils of the kind are more opposed to nature
than spoliation and cupidity, bat neglect of the
common interest is unnatural because unjust. 31.
Accordingly the law of nature herseif which preserves
and maintains the common interests of men expressly
ordains that the means of subsistence shall be trans-
ferred from the lazy and worthless man to the wise,
rigliteous and brave Citizen whose death would be a
heavy loss to the common weal^ but he must guard
against the pride and conceit that would find in this
an occasion for injustice. In this way he will always
:-u^}^ fulfil his duty if he promotes the interests of his fellow-
^.^.,/ men and of human society, if I may repeat once
more the same old words. 32. The case of Phalaris
is easily settled. There can be no such thing as
fellowship with tyrants, nothing but bitter feud is
possible : and it is not repugnant to nature to despoil^
if you can, those whom it is a virtue to kill ; nay,
this pestilent and godless brood should be utterly
banished from human society. For, as we amputate
a limb in which the blood and the vital spirit have
ceased to drculate^ because it injures the rest of the
body^ so monsters^ who^ under human guise, conceal
the cruelty and ferocity of a wild beast, should be

severed from the common body of huraanity. Such

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is the nature of all inquiries which deal with duty as

determined by circumstances.

VII. — 33, These, I imagine, are the subjects which

Panaetius would next have discussed, had not some

accident or some other occupation frustrated his

design. For the Solution of such problems as I have

mentioned you will find in the preceding books

abundance of precepts to show what should be

avoided as immoral and what is permitted as not

being absolutely. immoral. But as my work is now

so well advanced that I am about to add the finishing

stroke, I will here follow the example of mathema-

ticians. As it is their practice not to demonstrate

their propositions in full^ but to assume certain truths

as postulates in order to explain their meaning more

easily, so I require you, my dear son^ to admit, if you

can, that nothing but honour is to be desired for its ^ ^' ^-"i/t/-

own sake. If Cratippus forbids, you will at least

grant that in itself it is more desirable than any-

thlng in the world. Either principle is sufficient

for my purpose. I sometimes find more probability

in the one^ sometimes in the other but elsewhere

none. 34. In the first place I must explain in vindi-

cation of Panaetius that he did not mean that real

expediency could in certain contingencies clash with

the honourable — for that would have been against his

principles — but only apparent expediency. Indeed

he often declares that expediency and honour are one

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and the same thing, and that never was a more deadly

blow aimed at society than the mischievous theoiy

which first severed these two conceptions. Acoord-

ingly in admitting this apparent but not actual

Opposition^ it was not bis intention that we sbould

sometimes prefer the expedient to the honourable but

that we sbould in&Uibly decide between them in the

event of a possible conflict. I will now fill the gap

without the help of any one, fighting my own battle,

as the saying is. For among the theories published

on this branch of the subject since the time of

Panaetius^ none that I have seen is at all satisfactory.

VIII. — 35. When we meet with any thing that

has some colour of expediency it neeessarily makes

a powerful impression upon us. But if on closer

examination we find that it has some taint of wrong,

we sbould not throw up expediency but rather con-

clude that expediency and wrong cannot coexist.

If there is not hing so repugnant to nature as wrong

— for nature demands what is rights what is in

harmony with her, what is consistent with itself and

abhors the contrary — and if there is nothing so

conformable to nature as expediency, then assuredly

expediency and wrong are incompatible. Again if

we are bom to virtue and virtue is, as Zeno holds,

the only thing to be desired, or if, according to

Aristotle, it at least absolutely outweighs everything

in the world, it neeessarily foUows that honour is

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the sole or the supreme good : now what is good is

certainly expedient^ consequently whatever is honour-

able is expedient. 36. So when the wicked in their

folly snatch at something which seems expedient

they straightway sever it from the honourable.

Hence daggers, poisons^ forged wills, thefts^ pecula-

tions ; hence the pillaging and plundering of allies

and fellow-citizens ; hence the passion for inordinate

wealth and oppressive power, and finally the ambition

to play the king in a free Community, which is the

most repulsive and atrocious crime that can be

conceived. For the distorted vision of unprincipled

men is so fixed upon material advantage that they

never see the penalty of the laws which they often

override, still less the penalty of dishonour which

is the most cruel of all. 37. Away with these

wicked and accursed waverers who cannot decide

whether to pursue that which they know to be right

or with open eyes to defile themselves with guilt ;

their vadllation, I hold, is criminal in itself even

though they stop short of action. Never doubt,

where doubt in itself is wrong. Further, the vain

hope of escaping detection must be absolutely ex-

duded from our calculations : for if we have made

some little progress in philosophy we should be

thoroughly convinced that it is wrong to do anjrthing

unjust, wanton, or intemperate, even if we could

conc^I our action from gods and men. IX. — 38.

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It is in illustration of this truth that Plato brings

the fiimous Gyges on the scene. Once after heavy

rains the earth parted asunder. Gyges went down

into the ehasm, and, as the story goes^ he perceived

a bronze horse with doors in its flanks. On opening

the doors he saw a human corpse of extraordinary

size with a gold ring on one of the fingen. He

pulled off the ring and put it on his own finger.

This Gyges, who was one of the shepherds of the

king, then rejoined the others who just then were

met together. As often as he tumed the bezel of

the ring towards the palm of his band he became

invisible but continued to see what was going on

around him : and when he tumed the ring back

to its proper place he became visible as before.

Taking advantage of this magic virtue of the ring,

Gyges deflowered the queen, slew with her aid his

royal master and removed every one he suspected of

opposing him, in all these crimes remaining invisible.

Thus with the help of the ring he suddenly rose to

be king of Lydia. Now if the wise man had this

very ring he would not think himself more free to

sin than if he had it not. The good man seeks to

do what is right, not to hide what he does. 39*

Commenting on this passage certain well-meaning

but rather dull philosophers teil us that the story

related by Plato was a mere fiction, as if that great

man really maintained that the incident was either

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actual or possible. The Illustration of the ring is in

fiict an allegorical Statement of the following case.

Would you gratify your desire for riches^ power,

dominion, or sensual pleasure, if you had no fear of

deteetion or even of suspicion, and were certain that

the act would for ever be unknown to gods and men ?

Our worthy friends say the case is impossible. I

quite admit it is, but I ask if that which they declare

impossible were possible, what would they do ? They

stick to their point with right boorish obstinacy and

maintain the thing is impossible because they don't

know the meaning of the word "possible". When we

ask them what they would do if they could escape

deteetion we don't ask them if that is possible, we

merely put them on the rack, so to speak. For if

they replied that they would do what was best for

themselves if assured of impunity, they would thereby

admit their criminal intention ; if they said they

would not, they would grant that every shameiul act

must be shunned on its own account. But it is high

time to retum to the point.

X. — 40, Many cases arise in which we are per-

plexed by the semblance of expediency. I do not

refer to circumstances in which the question is raised

whether honour should be sacrificed for some great

advantage — for that would be sinful — but to those

in which we ask whether an action that seems

expedient may be performed without dishonour.
10 145

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?^ f^ ro ^

CICERO

Brutus^ for example, might have been accused of

injustice for deposing from the consulate his col-

league CoUatinus who had been his confederate and

adviser in the expulsion of the royal house. But

the leading Citizens having determined to sweep

away the whole clan of Superbus, and to obliterate

the name of the Tarquins and every vestige of

royal power^ this expedient and patriotic measure

was so praiseworthy that even CoUatinus was bound

to reeognise its justice. Expediency prevailed be-

cause it was united with honour^ apart from which

there could have been no expediency whatsoever,

41. The case of Romulus who founded our city was

quite difFerent. It was a bare show of expediency

that influenced him. Thinking it more convenient

to reign alone than to share the sovereignty, he

slew his brother, disregarding the dictates of natural

affection and human feeling in order to obtain an

illusory advantage. He alleged in his defence the

incident which happened at the building of the

wall ; but this attempt to justify his conduct was

flimsy and inadequate in the extreme. 42. Quirinus,

therefore, or Romulus, call him which you will, did

wrong, be it said without offence. Still we should

not throw away our advantages and surrender to

others what we ourselves require, but our own interests

should only be considered in so far as they do not pre-

judice the rights of others. Chrysippus remarks with

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his usual sagacity : '' As a man who runs a race should

do his very best to win but should never foul his

rival or push him off the course : so in the battle of

life it is right for a man to pursue his own advantage

but wrong to usurp the advantage of another ".

43. It is chiefly in friendship that our conceptions

of duty are unsettled, for it is at once contrary to

duty to rel^se a friend what justice permits and to

grant him what she forbids. For all such cases a

short and easy rule may be given. Honour, wealth,

pleasure and other apparent advantages must never

be preferred to friendship. On the other band the

righteous man will not betray his country^ break his

oath, or tamish his honour for the sake of a friend

even if he sits in judgment upon him. In assuming

the character of a judge he lays aside that of a

friend. He may be better pleased if his friend's

cause be just ; he may, if the law permits, time

the pleading of the cause to suit his friend's con-

venience ; beyond that he cannot go in yielding

to the promptings of friendship. 44. Since he has

to pronounce sentence on oath, he must bear in

mind that he calls God to witness^ that is^ as I

imagine^ his own conscience, the most divine fisiculty

that God has bestowed on man. It is a noble tradi-

tion^ if we but observed it, to ask of the judge only

what he can grant wiih a good conscience. Such a

request, as I have just said, may be honourably

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granted by a judge to his friend. If we were oompeUed

to do eveiything oiir friends wanted, the relation

between us would be more correctly termed con-

spiracy than friendship. 45. I am here speaking

of ordinary friendships, for among ideally wise men

no such contingency can arise. It is recorded that two

Pythagoreans named Dämon and Phintias were so

attached to each other that, when one of them was

eondemned to death by the tyrant Dionysius and

the day had been fixed for his execution, he applied

for a few days' respite to provide for the safe keeping

of his fkmilj, while the other became baU for his

appearance and pledged himself to die if his friend

did not retum« The eondemned man came back

by the appointed time and the tyrant in admiration

of their iidelity begged to be admitted to their

friendship. 46. In friendship, therefore, when that

which seems expedient conflicts with that which is

honourable, false expedieney must give way and

honour prevail ; and when the requests of our friends

cannot be honourably granted^ conscience and honour

must take precedence of friendship. In this way

we shall arrive at that nice discrimination of duty

which is the object of our inquiry.

XI. — False expedieney is often the cause of

political crimes such as our own people committed

in destroying Corinth. The Athenians were still

more cruel when they decreed that the Aeginetans

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who were a strong naval power should have their
thumbs cut off. They considered the step expedient
because the proximity of Aegina was a standing
menace to the Piraeus. Cruelty ean never be ex-
pedient ; nothing is so opposed to human nature,
our infallible guide. 47. It is no less wrong to
exelude aliens from a eity or to drive them out as
Pennus did in the last generation and Papius in
this. It is quite proper that no one should be
allowed to assume the pnvileges of a Citizen
who is not really a Citizen, and a law to this
eifect was passed by two of our wisest consuls,
Crassus and Scaevola : but to exelude foreigners
altogether is clearly opposed to the dictates of
humanity. On the other hand it is glorious to
sacrifice to honour the mere semblance of public
Utility. Our history is rieh in examples of this
kind especially in the period of the Second Punic
War. After the disaster of Cannae Rome exhibited
greater courage than ever she did in the time of her
prosperity. No face betrayed fear, no voice spoke
for peace. Thus does the false glitter of expediency
pale in the pure sunlight of honour. 4*8. Unable to
resist the Persian invasion the Athenians resolved
to abandon their city, place their families in safe
keeping at Troezen, and to embark in their ships
in Order to defend the liberty of Greece. A man

called Cyrsilus who urged them to remain in the

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city and open the gates to Xerxes was stoned to

death. His proposal, which seemed expedient, was

quite the reverse, because it was opposed to honour.

49. After his vietory in the Persian War Themistocles

stated in the national assembly that he had in view

a scheme of public utility which it was impolitic to

divulge and requested the people to appoint some

one to whom he might make it known. Aristides

was ehosen^ and Themistocles explained to him that,

if by a coup de main they bumed the Lacedaemonian

fleet which was beached at Gytheum, they would

inevitably shatter the power of the Lacedaemonians.

Aristides then retumed to the assembly where his

appearance was eagerly awaited and reported that

the plan of Themistocles was most expedient but far

from honourable. The Athenians thought that what

was wrong could not be expedient, and at the in-

stance of Aristides rejected the project without even

hearing what it was. They acted more nobly than

we who grant immunity to pirates and bürden our

allies with taxes.

XII. — We shall therefore consider it as settled

that what is wrong is not expedient even when it

brings some supposed advantage ; the mere thought

that wrong is expedient is disastrous in itself. 50.

But, as I have said, circumstances often arise in

which expediency seems to clash with honour and

we are obliged to consider whether the two are

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absolutely opposed or may be reconciled. The fol-

lowing problem will illustrate my meaning. An

honest man brings a large cargo of grain from

Alexandria to Rhodes during a dearth when com

is selling at famine priee. He knows that several

merchants have sailed from Alexandria and on the

passage he has seen their ships laden with grain

steering for Rhodes. Shall he inform the Rhodians

or keep his own counsel and seil his cargo at the

highest possible price ? We are imagining the case

of a virttrous and honest man : we are studying

the moral conflict of one who would not keep the

Rhodians in ignorance if he thought it wrong, though

he might be inclined to think that silence is right.

51. On such casuistic questions the views of the

great and respected Stoic, Diogenes of Babylon,

diifer from those of his pupil Antipater, a man of the

keenest intellect. Antipater holds that all the facts

should be disclosed so that the buyer may be as fully

informed as the seller ; according to Diogenes tlie

seller must State the defects of his goods only so far

as the common law requires, he must be straight-

forward in all his dealings, but is entitled to take

the highest price he can get. " I have imported and

laid out my goods and I oifer them as cheap as other

people, perhaps cheaper, when I have a larger supply :

whom do I Mrrong?" 52. Antipater argues on the

other side : " What do you mean ? It is your duty

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to promote the welfare of others and to make your-

self useful to society. You are bound to obey the

conditions of your existence and follow your natural

instincts whicb ordain tliat your interest should be the

interest of the Community and vice versa. Will you

then refuse to teil your fellow-men of the blessings

and abundant supplies that are at band ? " Diogenes

will perhaps reply in these terms : *' Concealment

is one thing, silence another^ and I don't conceal

anything from you now, if I don't teil you what is

the nature of the gods or the highest good whicb it

would be more useful to you to know than the low

price of wheat. I am not obliged to teil you all that

it would be for your advantage to know." 5S. " Ycs,

you must," Antipater will say, "if you regard the

natural bond of society, whicb knits men together."

" I don't forget the claim of society," Diogenes will

reply ; " but surely it does not exclude the idea of

private property. If it does, then selling is impossible,

and we shall have to give everything away." XIII. —

You observe that throughout this discussion they do

not say, " However wrong this may be, I will do it,

as it is expedient " ; the one says it is expedient

without being wrong; the other, it must not be

done, because it is wrong. 54. Supposing an honest

man is selling a house on account of certain de-

fects known to bim alone. It is believed to be

healthy but is really unhealthy. Snakes appear in

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all the bedrooms, the house is built of bad timber
and is insecure, but nobody is aware of this except
the owner : if he did not inform the purehaser and
sold his house at a higher priee than he expected,
would his conduct, I ask, be unjust or wicked ? " Of
course it would," says Antipater. 55. " For what is
the diSerence between refusing to set a man right
who has lost his way, an aet forbidden at Athens
under pain of public execration, and lettiiig a pur-
ehaser be carried away and blindly ineur the heaviest
loss? That is still worse than not showing a man
the way : it is deliberately misleading your neighbour."
Diogenes replies : " Nobody compelled you, nobody
even pressed you to buy; the man put up for sale
what he did not like and you bought what you liked.
Those who advertise : ' For sale, an excellent and
substantial country house/ are not considered dis-
honest even if it is neither excellent nor substantial,
stiU less are those who don't cry up their house.
Where is there room for dishonesty on the part of the
seller if the buyer is free to exercise his judgment?
If you are not required to make good all you say,
do you think you are responsible for what you don't
say ? Now what is more foolish than for a seller to
teil the defects of the article he is selling or more
absurd than for a crier to proclaim by the proprietor's
order : ' An unhealthy house to be sold ' ? " 56» It is

in this way that in certain dubious cases the one side

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defends the honourable, while the other teils us that

it is not pnly right to do what is expedient but

actaally wrong not to do it. Such is the apparent

confliet that often arises between the expedient and

the honourable. But I must give my own decision

in these two cases ; I stated the problems in order

to solve them, and not simply to raise an inquiry.

57. Well, in my opinion, neither should the com-

dealer have kept anything back from the Rhodians,

nor the man who was selling the house from the pur-

chasers. For concealment does not consist merely

in suppression but in keeping something you know

from others for your own advantage when it is their

interest to know it ; and the nature of such dissimula-

tion and the character of those who practise it are

obvious. We certainly do not expect to find it in

the open, straightforward, candid, just, or honest

man but rather in the evasive, deep, crafty, designing,

cunning^ sly^ confirmed rogue. What a calamity to

have oneself called by all these opprobrious names !

XIV. — 58. But if it is a fault to suppress the

truth, what are we to think of those who employ

downright falsehood.^ A Roman knight, called C.

CaniuS; a man of considerable wit and culture^ came

to Syracuse where, as he used to say himself, his sole

occupation would be to keep himself unoccupied.

He often spoke of buying a little . country place

where he could invite his firiends and enjoy himself

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without fear of intrusion. When his Intention got

abroad, a Syraeusan banker^ called Pythius^ told him

he owned a property of the kind ; it was not for

sale but Canius was welcome to the use of it and

at the same time he asked him to dinner there the

next day. Canius accepted the invitation. Pythius^

whose Position as a banker made him a favourite

with all elasses^ sent for some fishermen^ asked them

to fish next day opposite his grounds and told them

what to do. Canius arrived punctually. He found

a sumptuous banquet provided by Pythius, and saw

before him a large number of boats ; the fishermen

one by one brought the fish they had caught and

threw them down at the feet of Pythius. 59- Then

Canius said, '^Pray, Pythius, what 's the reason of

this? What 's the meaning of all these fish and

boats?" ^'That's natural enough ; this is the place

where the Syracusans get all their fish and water;

the people here could never get on without this

estate." Canius grows keen and presses him to seil

the place. At first the banker raises difiiculties. To

make a long story short, Canius gains his point. In

his infisituation the rieh knight buys the grounds with

all their appurtenances at the high price demanded

by Pythius. The banker concludes and notes the

bargain. Next day Canius invites his firiends, he

comes himself in good time, but there is no trace

of a boat. He asks his next-door neighbour if the

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fishermen had a holiday that none of them were to
be Seen. "Not that I know of; but there is no
fishing here and I could not imagine yesterday
what had happened." 60. Canius fiimed but was
helpless. For my friend and colleague^ C. Aquilius,
had not yet published his forms of pleading in eriminal
fraudj and, when people asked him what was meant
by fraud in his pleadings, he used to reply that it
was professing one thing and practising another^ a
most brilliant and masterly definition. Py thius^ then,
and all whose deeds belle their words^ are faithless,
Mricked^ erafty. None of their aetions can be ex-
pedient, they are so stained with vice.

XV. — ()1 . But if the definition of Aquilius is correct,
misrepresentation and concealment must be banished
from the World ; and the honest man will never
employ either the one or the other for the purpose
of driving a better bargain. Indeed^ before the time
of Aquilius this species of fraud was punished by
Statute. For example^ the Twelve Tables dealt with
offending guardians^ and the Plaetorian Law with
attempts to defraud minors. Apart from Statute law,
it is condemned by decisions in equity, in whieh
the apt words are ex fide bona. In the other deci-
sions the most significant words are, melius aequius
in the case of arbitration about a wife's property,
and in trusts ut inter bonos hene agier, Now, I ask

you^ do not the words melius aequius exclude the

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possibility of fraud, or do the words inter bonos bene

agier admit of crafl or cunning ? If criminal firaud

according to Aquilius consists in misrepresentation,

falsehood must be banished irom commercial transac-

tions. The vendor must not employ a mock-bidder

to raise the price^ nor the purchaser prejudice the

sale by any trick, and when they State their terms

they must State them once for all. 62. Q. Scaevola,

the son of Publius, asked the exact price of an estate

he wanted to buy. The seller told him. Scaevola

Said he thought it was worth more, and gave him

100,000 sesterces over and above what he asked.

Everybody will say that Scaevola acted like an

honest man^ but that he was just as foolish as if

he had sold the property for a lower price than he

might have obtained for it. Here again is the

mischievous doctrine which makes a distinction be-

tween goodness and wisdom. Hence the saying of

Ennius : " The wise man is wise to no purpose who

can make no proflt of his wisdom". That is per-

fectly true, but unfortunately Ennius and I are not

at one on the meaning of the word profit. 63. In

the treatise on duty which Hecato of Rhodes, a

disciple of Panaetius, dedicated to Q. Tubero^ I re-

member a passage to the eifect that ^'a wise man

ought to improve his position without doing anything

contrary to morals, laws, or customs. It is not for

ourselves alone that we desire to be rieh but for our

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children, our kinsmen, our friends^ and above all for

our country. For the wealth of the individual is the

wealth of the Community." This philosopher would

never have approved of the act of Scaevola whieh I

have just mentioned. In fiict he confesses that where

his own advantage is concemed he will shrink from

nothing except what is forbidden by law. Such a man,

I think, has no great claim on our respect or gratitude.

64<. If, then, criminal fraud consists in misrepresenta-

tion and concealment, there are very few actions

free from it ; and, if by a good man we mean one

who belps as many as he can and harms no one, it

will certainly be hard to find him. Once more I say

it is never expedient to do wrong because it is at all

times base, but it is always expedient to be good

because it is always honourable.

XVI. — &b. In the law of real property our code

ordains that the seller shall declare all the defects

known to him. Whereas according to the Twelve

Tables it sufiiced to make good such defects as

were expressly declared, and any one who did not

own these defects, when questioned by the pur-

chaser, incurred a double penalty, our judges have

gone a step further and attached a penalty to

the suppression of facts; they hold the seller

responsible for any defect in the estate known

to him but not expressly stated. 66. For in-

stance, the augurs having to take the auspices on

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the Capitol commanded Ti. Claudius Centumalus
who had a house on the Caelian hill to pull down
the parts of the buildin/i^ which were so high as to
interfere with their observations. Claudius put the
tenement up for sale and it was bought by P. Cal-
pumius Lanarlus. The augurs served the same notice
on the new proprietor. He complied; but having
discovered that Claudius had advertised the house
after the alterations had been ordered by the augurs
he brought an action in equity for specific performance
or for damages for breach of contract. M. Cato, the
father of Cato our contemporary^ pronounced judg-
ment. Other men derive their titles from their
fathers ; in this case we must distinguish by the name
of his son the man who gave to the world so brilliant
a luminary. Cato then in the capacity of judge pro-
nounced the following decision : " Since the vendor
was aware of the order of the augurs and had not
made it known, the loss ought to be made good to the
purchaser ". 67. Thus he ruled that the vendor was
bound in equity to inform the purchaser of any defects
of which he had knowledge. If his decision was good
lawj our com-dealer and the man who sold the un-
healthy house were alike wrong in withholding what
they knew. The civil law cannot cover all such cases
of suppression^ but it is strictly enforced wherever it
is applicable. Our relative, M. Marius Gratidianus,

had sold back to C. Sergius Orata a house which he

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had bought from him a few years before. The house
was subject to an easement but Marius had not stated
this in the conditions of sale. The case was taken to
court. Crassus was counsel for Grata, Antonius for
Gratidianus. Crassus laid stress on the law which
holds the seller responsible for any defects known to
him that he does not declare^ Antonius maintained
that equity was on his side^ and that this bürden must
have been known to Sergius as he had previously
sold the house in question ; there was accordingly no
reason for its being speeified and since the purehaser
was quiteaware of the burdens to which the pro-
perty was subject, he had not been deceived. 68.
But you may wonder why I quote these cases. My
object is to show that our ancestors did not approve
of Sharp practice.

XVII. — Justice and philosophy alike wage war
with craft, but fight with different weapons. The
sword of justice strikes where it can reach, but philo-
sophy employs those finer weapons, the reason and
the judgment. Now reason forbids every form of
treachery, misrepresentation and deceit. It is surely
treacherous to spread a net though you should not
beat the covers or drive the game ; for even if not
pursued, animals will oflen rush into it of their own
accord. Would you then advertise a house and put
up a board as a kind of snare to catch some dupe ?

69' I &ni quite aware that public opinion is so degene-

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rate that conduct like that is not commonly accounted

wrong and is not forbidden either by Statute or by

the civil law^ still it is banned by the law of nature.

I cannot too oflen repeat what I have said already

so oflen that there exists a society of the widest

possible extent embracing the whole human race^

another more restricted composed of the people of

one nation^ and one still narrower formed by the

inhabitants of one city. Our forefathers, therefore^

established a distinction between the law of nations

and the civil law: the civil law is not necessarily

identical with the law of nations^ but the law of

nations is necessarily identical with the civil law.

But we do not possess the real and life-like figure of

true law and genuine justice ; all that we have is

the &int outline. Would to Heaven we followed

even that^ for it is taken from the perfect model

presented by nature and truth ! 70. How priceless

are the words : " May I not be betrayed or beguiled

through thee or through thy plighted word " !

Here again are words of gold : ** Act honestly like

honest men without deceit ". But what is meant by

honest men } What is honesty } That is^ I confess,

a knotty point. Q. Scaevola, the high pontiflT^ used

to attach the greatest importance to all arbitrations in

which the reference was expressly ex ßde bona. He

considered that these words had an extensive applica-

tion, being employed in cases of wardship^ partner-i
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ships^ trusts, commissions, purchases, sales, hiring^

letting — in a word, in all the transactions of social life.

He added that it required an able judge to decide

the respective rights and obligations of the litigants,

especially as most of these cases admitted of cross

suits. 71. Away then with artifice and the kind of

craft that poses as prudence but is utterly remote

from it. For prudence has its sphere in the dis-

crimination of what is good and what is bad ; craft,

on the other band, if it is true that all that is base is

bad, prefers what is bad to what is good. The civil

law, which is derived firom the natural, not only

punishes craft and fraud in regard to real property,

but forbids every form of dishonesty in the sale of

slaves. The vendor, who is fixed with the know-

ledge of a slave's health or any disposition he may

have to run away or steal, is held responsibie for

bis defects by the law of the aediles. Those who

inherit slaves are in a different position. 72. From

this it is evident that, as nature is the source

of right, it is contrary to nature for any one to

take advantage of the stupidity of his neighbour.

Indeed there is no greater curse to society than craft

which wears the mask of wisdom ; in countless cases

it is the cause of the apparent conflict between the

expedient and the honourable. How few men, if

assured of impunity and secrecy, could refrain from

doing wrong ?

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XVIII. — 73. With your permission, I will criticise

one of those cases in which the mass of men see no

particular härm. I am not going to speak at present

of assassins, poisoners^ will-forgers^ thieves or pecu-

lators, who must be kept down with chains and

oonfinement, not with mere talk and philosophical

argument ; but I wish to consider the conduct of

those who pass in society for respectable men. A

forged will^ purporting to be that of the wealthy

L. Minucius Basilus^ was brought from Greece to

Rome. To strengthen their position the forgers

made M. Crassus and Q. Hortensius, two of the

most influential men of the time, joint-heirs with

themselves ; the latter had some idea that the will

was a forgery, but, being conseious of no guilt in

the matter, they were not above taking a douceur

procured by the villainy of others. I ask you, is

this excuse sufficient to justify their conduct? I

certainly don't think so, although I was the friend

of Hortensius while he lived and am no enemy to

Crassus now that he is dead and gone. 74. Basilus

in bis real will had bequeathed bis name and

bis fortune to bis nephew M. Satrius, the pro-

tector of Picenum and the Sabine land — what a

Stigma on our age! — and it was surely not right

for men of position to keep the estate and leave to

Satrius nothing but the name. If, as I explained in

the first book, it is wrong not to prevent injustice

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and avert it from our neighbours^ what shall we say

of the man who, fer from repelling^ actaally abets

it ? To my mind it is not honourable to accept even

a genuine legacy if it has been gained by designing

flattery and insincere and hypocritical attentions.

StOl in such cases the expedient sometimes appears

to differ from the honourable. 75. This theory, I

say, is felse ; there is but one Standard of expediency

and honour, and the man who is not convinced of

this is capable of every kind of craft and crime. If

he reasons thus : " your plan is honourable, but mine

is expedient/' he will not scruple to tear asunder

things that nature has joined together, and he

will fitU into a heresy which is the source of every

form of cunning, wickedness, and crime.

XIX. — If the honest man had only to snap his

fingers in order to slip his name into the wills of

rieh men he would not abuse his magic power,

even if he were certain of escaping suspicion.

Why, had you given M. Crassus the chance of

foisting his name into a will by sleight of band

although he was not the real heir, I teil you, he

would have danced for joy in the forum. But the

just man, the man whom we feel to be honest, will

never rob another to enrich himself. If you are sur-

prised at this, you must admit that you do not know

what an honest man is. 76. You have only to develop

an innate idea to make it instantly clear to yourself

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that the honest man is one who does all the good

he can and harms no one except under provocation.

I ask you^ then^ would a man do no härm who spirited

away a true heir and stepped into his place ? The

objection may be raised : '* Is he not then to do what

would be advantageous and expedient?" By all

means, but he must understand that nothing is

expedient or advantageous that is unjust. Without

this principle no one can be honest. 77. When I

was a boy I often heard my fether say that the

ex-consul C. Fimbria was judge in the case of

M. Lutatius Pinthias^ a Roman knight of irreproach-

able character^ who had laid a judicial wager that

he would prove he was a good man. Fimbria told him

that he would never pronounce judgment in the

case because he feared he might ruin the reputation

of a man of recognised worth^ if he decided against

him, or might seem to have admitted the existence

of a perfectly good man, when such a chafacter really

implied the Performance of countless duties and the

possession of countless merits. Now this ideally

good man of whom even Fimbria, not to mention

Socrates, had formed a conception will never consider

anything expedient that is not honourable, and, üir

from doing, he will not dare to think of, an3rthing

that he could not publish to the world. What a

scandal that philosophers should have their doubts

where peasants have none ! Is it not to peasants

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that we owe the trite old proverb which they employ

when they praise a man for his good &ith and Sterling

worth? — "Why, you could safely play at odd and

even with him in the dark " ; and what is the point

of the proverb but this, that nothing is expedient

that is not decorous even if the object could be

gained with impunity ? 78. Don't you see it teaches

the lesson that there is no excuse for Gyges, nor for

the man to whom I just now fancifiiUy ascribed the

power of conjuring into his own net all the legacies

in the world? For, as secrecy can never make a

base action honourable, so an action in itself dis-

honourable can never become expedient ; it is contrary

to all the dictates of nature.

XX. — 79. But, it may be said, no wonder people

go astray wliere there are great prizes to gain. After

holding the office of praetor Marius had remained in

the background for more than seven years and had

but faint hopes of attaining the consulate ; indeed it

looked as if he would never stand for it. About this

time he was sent to Rome by Q. Metellus, a great

man and a worthy Citizen, under whom he served as

adjutant. He there accused his general before the

people of protracting the war for his own purposes

and promised that, if they made him consul, he

would in a short time deliver Jugurtha alive or dead

into the hands of the Roman people. He succeeded,

it is true, in becoming consul, but in discrediting by

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CICERO

a fiilse Charge a woithy and respected Citizen whose

adjutant and envoy he was he swerved from the path

of honour and justice. 80. Our kinsman Marius^ I

mean Gratidianus^ was no better. During his praetor-

ship he was guilty of an act unworthy of an honest

man. The tribunes of the people had invited the

board of praetors to co-operate with them in fixing

the Standard of the currency by a Joint resolution ;

for at that date the value of money fluctuated so

much that no one knew what he was worth. They

drew up an edict together determining the penalties

and the judicial procedure and arranged to mount

the Rostra all together in the aflemoon. The others

went their several ways^ but Marius proceeded

straight from the tribunes' benches to the Rostra

and there proclaimed alone the edict which they had

agreed to proclaim in common. This ruse actually

procured for him great popularity. In all the streets

statues were raised in his honour and incense and

tapers were bumt before them. In a word, he be-

came the idol of the multitude. 81. Our moral

calculations are sometimes disturbed by circum-

stances like these in which the offence against

justice appears trifling in comparison with the ac-

cruing advantage. Thus in the case before us Marius

did not think it very wrong to anticipate his colleagues

and the tribunes in winning the favour of the people^

but he considered it most advantageous to secure by

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that means bis election to the consulate which was
then the object of his ambition. For all cases tbere
is but one rule which I desire to impress on you:
an act which is thought expedient must not be
wrong ; if it is wrong, it must not be thought ex-
pedient. I ask you, then^ can we pronounce either
the one Marius or the other a good man ? Sift and
search your mind to see what idea and conception
of a good man it contains, and then ans wer this ques-
tion. Can a good man consistently lie or calumniate,
outwit, and deceive others for his own advantage ?
Assuredly not. 82. Is any object so important, any
advantage so desirable, that you would sacrifice for
its sake the glorious title of an honest man ? What
good could you get from your so-called expediency
to compensate for the loss you would suffer if it
filched from you your good name and robbed you of
honour and justice ? As well become a beast out-
right as conceal its ferocity under human guise.

XXL — What shall we say of those who ignore
what is right and honourable if only they acquire
power? Are they not on a level with him who
actually chose for his father-in-law a man through
whose shameless conduct he might strengthen his
own Position. It seemed to him advantageous to
establish his own infiuence on the discredit of his
neighbour. He did not see how dishonourable

his conduct was and how unjust to his country.

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As for his &ther-in-law, he was always quoting two
Greek verses from the Phoenissae which I shall
translate as well as I can. My rendering may be
awkward^ but it will at least give the sense : —

*' To get a crown, a man would break a trust,
If break'st at all, everywhere eise be just."

How in&mous to make a Single exception in favour

of the greatest of all crimes ! 83. Why stop short

at trifles such as ill-gotten legaeies, and dishonest

purchases and sales ? Here you have a man who

aspired to be king of the Roman people and master

of the World and succeeded. If you call such an

ambition honourable, you are out of your senses :

for you tacitly approve of the extinction of law

and liberty and applaud the hideous and accursed

crime of trampling them in the dust. If any one

admits that it is not honourable to wield the sceptre

in a State which once was free and still deserves her

freedom, and yet asserts that for the tyrant it is

good, what remonstrance, nay, what reproach is

strong enough to uproot from his mind so fatal an

error ? Immortal gods ! can the foul and abominable

crime of treason to one's country bring good to any

one though the traitor be hailed as Father by the

Citizens whom he has crushed? Honour, I say, is

the only Standard of expediency; the words are

different^ the things are the same. 84. To the

vulgär mind there is no happier lot than that of a

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king ; but, when I put the theory to a practica! test,

I find that the power of a usurper is the greatest

possible curse. What advantage is it to be a prey

to sorrow and care, to tremble day and night, and

to live a life beset with snares and dangers ? Accius

says : '' Many are hostile and faithless to the throne,

few are friendly ". To what throne ? To the right-

ful heirs of Tantalus and Pelops. As for the tyrant

who crushed the Roman people with their own army

and enslaved a free republic, the mistress of the

World, what shall we say of the number of his

eneraies ? 85. Think of his guilt-stained consdence,

his heart tom with remorse ! Can life be worth living

to a man who holds it on such terms that he who

robs him of it is destined to win the greatest grati-

tude and glory? If this, which seems the greatest

advantage in the world, is no advantage at all, because

it is attended with dishonour and infamy, you should

now be fully convinced that nothing is expedient that

is not honourable.

XXII. — 86. This principle has been acknowledged

on many occasions in our history, but was never so

strongly attested as in the war with Pyrrhus by the

Roman Senate and C. Fabricius who was then in his

second consulate. Pyrrhus was the aggressor. We

were fighting for the ascendancy with a chivalrous

and powerful prince. A deserter came firom his

camp to that of Fabricius and offered for a reward

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to retum to the camp of Pyrrhus as secretly as he

had oome and poison the king. Fabricius ordered

him to be taken back to Pyrrhus, and his oonduct

was applauded by the Senate. Now, if we merely

look to the appearance, the populär conception of

expediency, it would doubtless have been an advan-

tage to be relieved of a difficult war and a formidable

adversary through the agency of a Single deserter ;

but what a shame, what a scandal to conquer not

by courage but by crime a prince with whom the

contest was for glory. 87. Which then was the more

expedient course either for Fabricius, the Roman

Aristides, or for our Senate, which never divorced

its interest frora its honour, to iight the enemy

with the sword or with poison? If glory is our

motive in aspiring to empire^ let us abstain from

crime which is incompatible with glory: but if

power is our sole object, purchased at whatever

price, it can never be a blessing if coupled with dis-

honour. There was no advantage, therefore^ in the

proposal made by L. Philippus, the son of Quintus^

that the states which Sulla, in pursuance of a decree

of the Senate, had fireed from taxation on the receipt

of an indemnity, should again be made tributary

without repayment of the sum they had given for

exemption. The senate followed his advice. What

a disgrace to our empire ! Why, pirates have more

honour than the senate. " Yes, but that increased

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our revenne; it was, thcf cfc g e , ezpedient." How
long wiU people pereist in aaying tfaat anything is
expedient that is not honourable? 88. An empire
should be upheld hy an hoDomable name and the
loyalty of her allies; how then ean she profit by
hatred and in£uny? On this subject I have often
disagreed with my friend Cato. It seemed to me
that he was too stubbom a champion of the treasury
and the public revenue. He made no conoessicHis
to the fanners of the revenue and few to the allies,
whlle I held that we should be generous to the
latter and deal with the former as we commonly
do with our own tenants^ especially as the harmony
of the Orders was essential to the national welfiu^
Curio was equally wrong. Though he admitted that
the cause of the colonies beyond the Po was just,
he always made the reservation, " The public interest
must prevail " ! He should rather have proved that
their cause was not just because it was not advan-
tageous to the republic^ than admitted its justice
while denying its expediency.

XXni.— 89. The sixth book of Hecato's Duttes
is füll of questions of casuistry such as these : ^' At a
time of extreme dearth is it right for a good man not
to supply food to his slaves ? " He argues both sides
of the question and comes to the conclusion that ex-
pediency^ as he couceives it, rather than human

sympathy is the Standard of duty. Here is another

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problem. '' If a ship is out at sea and it is necessary

to jettison part of the cargo, should one sacrifice a

valuable hone rather than a cheap slave ? " In this

case self-interest pulls the one way and human feeling

the other. '' If a fool seizes a plank from a wreck,

shall a wise man, if he can, twist it out of his hands ? "

"No," says Hecato; ''it would be unjust." ''But

what would you say of the shipowner ? Is he entitled

to seize the plank on the plea that it belongs to

him ? " '' He has no more right to do that than to

throw a passenger overboard in deep water because

the ship is his. For until she reaches the port for

which she is chartered the ship does not belong to

the owner but to the passengers." 90. *' Suppose a

ship is wrecked and there is but one plank for two

equally wise people, are they both to seize it or is the

one to yield it to the other } " " Of course it must be

given up to the one whose life is more valuable to him-

seif or to the Community." " What if their lives be

equally valuable ? " '* In that case there must be no

contention, the one must yield to the other as if he lost

in a game of chance or in playing at odd and even."

" If a man should roh a temple, or drive a mine into

the public treasury, should his son report him to the

magistrates ? " " No, that would be a crime ; he

must even defend his father should he be publicly

accused." " Is not the duty we owe to our country

paramount to every other?" "Yes, but it is good

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for our country herseif to have Citizens true to their

parents." ^' If a man aspires to tyrannical power and

attempts to betray his country, shall his son remain

silent ? " '' No, he must plead with his father, and

if he fails, he must rebuke and even threaten him,

and finally, if the ruin of his country is imminent, he

must prefer her safety to that of his father." 91-

Another question. '' If a wise man by an oversight

takes false money for good and discovers his mistake,

is it allowable for him in paying his debts to pass it

off as good ? " Diogenes says " Yes " ; Antipater

" No " ; I prefer the latter view. " If a man had

wine for sale which he knew to be unsound, should

he teil his customers?" Diogenes thinks it is not

necessary, Antipater mainains that an honest man

should. These are, so to speak, the disputed points

of law among the Stoics. " In selling a slave ought

we to State his defects — I do not mean those defects,

the concealment of which would cancel the transac-

tion according to the civil law — but the disposition

to lie, gamble, steal or tipple?" Antipater thinks

we should, Diogenes we should not. 9^* '' If a man

should seil gold by mistake for brass, should an honest

man teil him it is gold, or take for one denarius what

is worth a thousand?" It should now be clear to

you what are my own views on these problems and

wherein the two philosophers I have named difier

in theirs.

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CICERO

XXIV. — Are bargains and promises always binding
which in the language of the praetors have been made
without force or fraud? One man gives another a
drug for dropsy, stipulating that if cured, he is never
to use the drug again. The patient recovers, but some
years after he takes the same trouble and cannot obtain
permission from the other to use the drug again.
What should he do ? As it is unfeeling in his friend
to refuse a concession which would cost him nothing^
the invalid is justified in looking to his own life
and the preservation of his health. 93. A wise man
is to be made heir to a fortune of one hundred million
sesterces ; but the testator requires him before enter-
ing upon the inheritance to dance publicly in the
forum in broad daylight. Rather than lose the
inheritance the wise man has accepted the con-
dition. Is he to keep his promise or not ? I wish
he had never made it; that, I tliink, would have
been the dignified course. But since he has given
his Word, if he thinks it degrading to dance in
the forum, it will be more honourable for him to
break his promise and renounce the inheritance,
unless he should happen to devote the money
to the relief of his country in some great crisis
when his public spirit would excuse even the act of
dancing. XXV. — 94. No more binding are promises
which are not useful even to those to whom they

have been made. To draw my illustrations once

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CICERO

more from mythology, Phoebus having promised his

8on Phaethon to gratify all his desires, Phaethon

asked leave to mount his father's chariot ; his wish

was granted, but before the joumey ended he was

consumed by a thunder-bolt. How much better

if his father had not kept his promise. Take again

the promise which Theseus exacted from Neptune.

The god having given him the choice of three

things, Theseus desired the death of his son'Hip-

polytus whom he suspected of incest with his

stepmother; his desire was granted and Theseus

was plunged in the deepest grief. 9^* What shall

we say of Agamemnon who vowed to Diana the

fairest thing that came into being that year within

his realm. There was nothing fairer than Iphigenia

and he sacrificed her. He ought rather to have

broken his promise than committed so foul a crime.

It is our duty therefore in some cases not to fulfil a

promise and in others not to restore what has been

entrusted to our keeping. If some one in his right

mind gave you a sword to keep, and asked it back

when mad, it would be a sin to restore and a

duty not to restore it. If a man who had de-

posited a sum of money with you should make

war on your country, would you restore his deposit ?

I should say no ; you would be acting against the

interests of your country which should be dearer to

you than anything in the world. 96. Thus many

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CICERO

actions which appear essentially moral, in certain
circumstances completely change their character.
To keep a promise, stand to a bargain, retum a
deposit, are acts which cease to be moral when they
lose their expediency. I tbink I have now said
enough about those acts which, under the mask
of wisdom, appear to be expedient but are really
opposed to justice.

Having in my first book derived all our duties
firom the four sources of honour, I shall here foUow
the same order in showing how contrary to virtue
are things which have only the semblance of ex-
pediency. I have already spoken of prudence and
of cunning, its counterfeit, and likewise of justice
and its constant attendant, expediency. There
remain therefore two sources of honour, the one of
which manifests itself in greatness and sublimity
of character, and the other in the moulding and
governing of the mind by moderation and seif-
command.

XXVI. — 97. To escape from military service it

seemed expedient to Ulysses to feign madness.

Such at least is the account of the tragic poets.

Homer, [our best authority, breathes not a word of

suspicion against him. His purpose was not honour-

able, but, it may be said, it was expedient for

Ulysses to remain at Ithaca, and to reign there

and live a peaceful life with his parents and his
12 177

CICERO

wife and son. What glory^ think you, gained in
daily toils and dangers can compare with such
tranquillity P Tranquillity like that, I teil you, is
mean and contemptible ; as it is not honourable,
it eeases, I think, to be expedient. 98. What
would the World have said of Ulysses, if he had
persevered in his deceit, when despite his glorious
exploits in war, he is thus tauuted by Ajax : —

He that contrived the oath, and made us take it,
Was th* only man, himself, you know, that brake it
Playing th' mad, driv'ling fool, under that blind
To sieep in a whole skin, and stay behind :
And the bold cheat had past, without all doubt,
But for sly Palamede that found it out.

99. Believe me, it was better for him to fight with
the foe and battle with the billows, as he did, than
to desert the Greeks who were banded together as
one man to make war on the barbarians. Let us tum
firom fahles and foreign instances to real events in
our own history. In his second consulate M. Atilius
Regulus was treacherously captured by the Forces of
the Lacedaemonian Xanthippus who held command
under Hamilcar, the father of Hannibal. He was
then despatched to our senate and was bound by an
oath to retum to Carthage unless he procured the
exchange of certain Punic prisoners of high rank.
When he came to Rome, it was apparently his interest
to remain in his own country, to live at home with

his wife and children, and to maintain his consular

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CICERO

rank, regarding the reverse he had suffered as the

common fortune of war ; but, as the event proves, he

considered the expediency of such a course illusory.

Who denies that these are great advantages? No

one, think you? XXVII. — 100. Yes, magnanimity

and fortitude ; surely you do not want more weighty

authorities ? For it is the peculiar function of these

virtues to fear nothing, to scom aU the accidents of

fortune, and to think nothing insupportable that can

happen to man. What then did he do ? He came

into the senate, explained the object of his mission,

but refused to express his opinion, holding that his

rights as a Senator were suspended so long as he was

bound by the oath swom to his enemies. More than

that — but some one may say, " What a fool to quarrel

with his own interests 1 " — he denied the expediency

of restoring the prisoners, a body of gallant young

officers in exchange for a decrepit old man. His force

of character triumphed, the prisoners were retained,

and he retumed to Carthage ; love of country and

love of kin oould not hold him. Yet he well knew

he was going to meet a cruel enemy and exquisite

tortures. But he respected the sanctity of his oath,

happier far in the agonies of sieeplessness with which

he was tortured to death than if he had grown old at

home, a runaway prisoner of war, a perjured consul.

101. ''Still he acted like a fool in proposing that the

prisoners should not be restored and actually dissuad-

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CICERO

ing his countrymen from restoring them." In what

sense like a fool if his policy was advantageous to his

country > Can that which is disadvantageous to the

State be profitable to any dtizen? XXVIII. — To

sever expedieney from honour is to overthrow the

foundations of nature. We all strive after self-interest

and are hurried towards it by an irresistible Impulse.

Is there any one who flees from his own interest^ or

rather does not pursue it with the greatest ardour ?

But as we can find it only in what is praiseworthy^

decorous, and honourable, we consider these qiudities

the first and highest blessings^ and expediency not so

much an omament as a necessary principle of life. 1 02.

It may be said, " After all^ what is there in an oath ?

Do we really fear the wrath of Jove ? No, all schools

of philosophy, whether they maintain that God does

nothing and troubles no one^ or that He is ever work>

ing and toiling, agree in the opinion that He is never

angry and harms no one. Besides, what greater evil

could the wrath of Jove have inflicted on Regulus

than he brought upon himself ? The fear of the gods^

then, had not the power to annul so great an advan-

tage. Or did he fear to act basely? In the first

place, "of two evils we should choose the least".

Surely there is not so much evil in the baseness you

speak of as in the tortures he had to endure. Well

might he have used the words of Accius: 'Hast

thou broken thy word ? To a fiiithless man I neither

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CICERO

have given nor do give it ' — a noble sentiment though
uttered by an accursed tyrant." 103. These critics
further say that as we maintain that some things seem
expedient which are not, so they maintain that some
things seem honourable which are not : ** for example,
this very act of giving oneself up to certain torture in
Order to keep an oath is apparently honourable but is
really not honourable, because an oath extorted by an
enemy was not binding ". They add that whatever is
highly expedient thereby becomes honourable, even
though it did not seem honourable before. These are
substantially the arguments against Regulus. Let us
examine them in detaiL

XXIX. — 104. "There was nothing to fear from
Jupiter. He is wont neither to be wroth nor to do
härm." This argument is just as valid against any
oath as against that of Regulus ; and in the case of
an oath we should think of its significance rather
than its terrors. An oath is in £sict a solemn affirma-
tion : now what we positively promise, as if taking
Heaven to witness, that we must keep. If that is
true, the question does not concern the wrath of the
gods (for there is no such thing), but the obligations
of justice and honour. You may remember the noble
words of Ennius : —

O holy Faith 1 the tie o* th' gods ;

And fit to have thy mansion in their blest abodes.

He who violates his oath, violates the goddess of

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CICERO

Honour to whom, as we leam from a Speech of
Cato's^ our ancestors assigned a place on the Capitol
near Jove, the Best, the Greatest 105. ^'Besides,
even the wrath of Jove could not have done greater
härm to Regulus than he brought upon himself."
Quite 80, if pain were the only evil. But philosophers
of the highest authority assert, that^ far from being
the greatest evil, it is no evil at all. In support of
their doctrine we have in Regulus no mean witness,
nay, I take it, a witness of great weight, whose
testimony I pray you not to challenge. Can we
desire a stronger witness than an eminent Roman,
who, to be true to his duty, voluntarily submitted
to torture ? As to the argument, " the least of evils,"
in other words, dishonour before misfortune, I ask
you, is there any greater evil than dishonour ? If we
are shocked by bodily deformity, what must we think
of the hideous deformity of a depraved mind ? 106.
Our more rigorous moralists, therefore, go so far as
to assert that dishonour is the only evil ; while the
more indulgent do not shrink from caUing it the
greatest evil of all. As to the sentiment, '' l have
neither given, nor do I give^ my faith to a fiiithless
man," it was properly expressed by the poet because
he had to accommodate his language to the character
of Atreus. But if our friends assume that a promise
pledged to the faithless is null and void, I am afraid

they are merely seeking to screen their own perjury.

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CICERO

107. Even war has its laws and it is oflen our duty
to keep an oath swom to an enemy. An oath is
binding if in taking it we fully realise and admit our
responsibility ; otherwise, it is no perjury to break it.
Thus you eould refuse a pirate the price fixed for your
ransom. Here it would be no crime even to break an
oath. A pirate is not recognised as a public enemy,
he is the common foe of all men. With him we can
have no promises, no oaths that are mutually bind-
ing. 108. Perjury does not consist in sweariug
fiilsely but in not fulfilling what you have swom
upon soul and comcience, as our formula expresses
it. Euripides has cleverly said : '' I swore with my
tongue, not with my heart ". Regulus had no right
to violate by perjury an agreement concluded in
time of war with a regulär and accredited ememy.
With such an enemy we have in common the whole
fetial law and many mutual obligations. Were it
not so, the Senate would never have given up to the
enemy in chains so many distinguished men. XXX. —
109. T. Veturius and P. Postumius in their second
consulate were delivered up to the Samnites, because
after the reverse at Caudium they had suffered our
legions to pass under the yoke and had concluded
peace without the authority of the people and the
Senate. In order to annul the treaty with the
Samnites we surrendered at the same time Ti.

Numicius and Q. Maelius, the tribunes of the people,

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CICERO

by whose advice peace had been concluded; and
the resolution was actually proposed and advocated
by Postumius who was himself to be surrendered.
Many years later bis example was followed by C.
Mancinus who had made a treaty with the Numan-
tines without Warrant from the Senate. With a view
to bis own surrender he spoke in favour of the bill
which L. Furius and Sextus Atilius submitted to the
people in pursuance of a decree of the Senate : the
bill was passed and he was given up to the enemy.
Maeinus acted more honourably than Q. Pompeius
who in similar circumstances procured by bis en-
treaties the rejection of the law. In bis case apparent
expediency triumphed over honour, in the others
honour eclipsed the false show of expediency.

110. ** But an oath extorted by force should
not have been fulfiUed." As if a man of courage
could be forced. " Why, then, did he come to the
Senate, especially as he intended to oppose the
restitution of the prisoners?" That is to make a
fault of his chief merit. Not content with forming
a decision in his own mind, he pressed it on the
Senate : which, but for his powerful influence, would
doubtless have restored the prisoners to the Cartha-
ginians ; and Regulus would then have remained in
safety in his native land. But^ as such a course did
not seem advantageous to his country, he believed

that honour required bim to declare his conviction

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CICERO

and go to meet his fate. As to their assertion, that

what is highly expedient thereby becomes honour-

able, they should rather have said^ it is, not becomes,

honourable. For nothing is expedient that is not

at the same time honourable, nor honourable be-

cause it is expedient; it is expedient because it is

honourable. Among all the instances of heroism

with which our history abounds it would be difficult

to point to one more remarkable or more worthy of

praise than the conduet of Regulus.

XXXI. — 111. Of all his claims to glory, that which

alone conunands our admiration is his voting for the

detention of the prisoners. It seems remarkable to

US now that he retumed to Carthage ; in those

days he could not have done otherwise. The credit

therefore belongs to the age and not to the man.

For our fore£athers regarded an oath as the strictest

possible Obligation. We have proof of this in the

laws of the Twelve Tables, in the " sacred " laws,

in treaties which oblige us to act honourably even

towards an enemy, and in the investigations and

awards of the censors who were never so scrupu-

lous as when they gave judgment conceming an oath.

112. M. Pomponius, a tribune of the people, im-

peached the dictator L. Manlius, the son of Aulus,

for having exceeded his term of office by several

days, and further charged him with banishing from

Society his son Titus, afterwards sumamed Torquatus,

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CICERO

and ordering him to live in the countiy. When the
young lad heard that his father was in trouble, he
hurried to Rome, we are told^ and went at daybreak
to the house of Pomponius. His visit was announced,
and the tribune^ supposing that he had come in anger
with some fresh charge against his father, rose from
his bed and admitted the youth to a private inter-
view. The moment he entered he drew his sword
and swore that he would kill the tribune on the spot
if he did not promise on his word of honour not to
aceuse his father. Pomponius in terror gave his
oath : he then reported the matter to the people,
explained to them why he was eompelled to drop the
prosecution^ and left Manlius unmolested. Such was
the power of an oath in those days. This is the
same T. Manlius who^ challenged by a Gaul on the
banks of the Anio^ slew his enemy^ stripped him of
his collar^ and thus gained his sumame. In his third
consulate he completely routed the Latins at Veseris.
He was truly a great man, and he showed himself
as inexorable to his son as he had been indulgent to
his father.

XXXII. — 113. If we are to praise Regulus for
fulfilling his oath, we must for the same reason
condemn the ten Romans who were sent by Han-
nibal after the battle of Cannae to negotiate with
the Senate an exchange of prisoners, if they really

broke the oath they had taken to retum in case

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CICERO

of fidlure to the camp held by the Carthaginians.
Historians, however, are not agreed as to the
facta. Polybius^ a high authority, teils us that nine
of the ten noble envoys came back unsuccessful^
and that only one remained at Rome. This man
satisfied his conscience by retuming to the camp just
after leaving it, on the plea that he had forgotten
something. He was wrong ; deceit aggravates, does
not undo perjury. This was only a foolish trick,
a perverse imitation of prudence. The Senate
therefore decreed that the cunning rogue should be
taken in chains to Hannibal. 114. The most im-
portant point was this : the eight thousand prisoners
in the hands of Hannibal had not been taken in
battle nor had they fled in fear of death but had
been left in the camp by the consuls Paulus and
Varro. The Senate, however, refused to ransoro.
them, though it could have been done at small
expense ; they wished to impress on our soldiers
that they must conquer or die. Polybius adds
that HannibaFs courage failed when he heard
the tidings and saw that even amid disaster the
Roman Senate and people showed so lofty a spirit.
Thus does honour triumph in the conflict with
seeming expediency. 115. C. Acilius on the other
band, who wrote a history of Rome in Greek, afBrms
that not one but several of the prisoners retumed to

the camp to release themselves fron* their oath by

187

CICERO

the same dishonest means and that they were

branded by the censors with eveiy mark of shame.

But enough on this point. It is clear that mean and

cowardly actions, such as that of Regulus would

have been^ if in dealing with the prisoners he had

pat his own interest before that of his country or

preferred to remain at home, it is clear, I say^ that

actions that betoken a crushed and craven spirit are

not expedient because they are criminal, shameful,

dishonourable.

XXXIII.— 1 i6. I have still to deal with my fourth

division, which comprises decorum, moderation, self-

control^ sobriety and temperance. Surely nothing

can be expedient that is opposed to this galaxy of

virtues? Yet the disciples of Aristippus who are

known as the Cyrenaics and the philosophers whom

we call Annicerlans find in pleasure the only good and

maintain that virtue is praiseworthy only because it is

productive of pleasure. These philosophers are now

neglected^ but Epicurus^ the founder and champion

of a similar System^ is still a living force. Against

such enemies we must fight with " horse and foot/'

as the saying is, if we are determined to defend and

maintain the honourable. 1 1 7. For if Metrodorus is

right in asserting that all our interests and all our

happiness may be reduced to the possession of a

sound Constitution and the certainty of keeping it,

this sovereign expediency, as they consider it, will

188

CICERO

assuredly be opposed to honour. Now, I ask you
finty what place can prudence have in bis System ?
Will she have to hunt for sweet things on every
side? A sorry plight indeed for virtue to be the
slave of pleasure ! What tben is to be the function
of prudence? The judicious choice of pleasures?
Grant that there is nothing so delightful, can we
imagine anything more degrading ? Again in a System
which looks upon pain as the greatest evil, what room
will there be for fortitude, which is but another name
for indifference to pain and hardship? For though
Epicurus in many passages actually speaks out rather
bravely on the subject of pain, we should not think
of what he says but of what it is consistent for him
to say after making pleasure the greatest good,
and pain the greatest evil. It would be interest-
ing to hear him on self-command and temperance ;
he has indeed many scattered remarks on the subject,
but, as the proverb has it, ''they don't hold water".
What right has he to praise temperance when he
finds the highest good in pleasure ? For temperance
is the enemy of the passions, and the passions are
hounds upon the track of pleasure. 118. With these
three virtues they manage to shuffle with considerable
skill. They represent prudence as the science of
providing pleasure and keeping away pain. Fortitude
they despatch in a summary way, saying it is the

means of despising death and enduring pain. With

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CICERO

temperance they have their own troubles, bat they

get out of the difficulty by saying there is no higher

pleasure than exemption from pain. As for justice

and all the social virtues, they totter or rather lie

prostrate. Kindness, liberality, courtesy, even friend-

ship, disappear if not cultivated for their own sake,

but tried by the stanc^ard of pleasure or utility.

Let ussum up in a few words. 11 9- As I have

shown that expediency is worthless if opposed to

honour, so I maintain that pleasure and honour are

incompatible. I therefore think that Callipho and

Dinomachus deserve the greater censure for supposing

they could settle the controversy by coupling pleasure

with honour. As well couple man and beast. Honour

will not suffer such a union, she spums and rejects it.

The sovereign good, which must be simple, cannot

be compounded of contradictory qualities. 1 20. But

the question is a large one and I have discussed it

at length in another place. To retum to my sub-

ject, I have already shown pretty fiilly the means of

settling possible conflicts between false expediency

and honour. If it is asserted that even pleasure has

some colour of expediency, I reply that it can

have nothing in common with honour. If we must

make some concession to pleasure, I will admit that

it is perhaps a sort of seasoning to life but never

that it has any real expediency.

121. The gift I now send you, dear Marcus, is,

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CICERO

in my opinion, a valuable one ; for you its worth will
depend on the spirit in which you receive it You
will at least admit these three books as guests
among the notes of Cratippus. Had I not been
recalled in unmistakable tones by my country
when on my way to Athens, you would sometimes
have heard me as well as your master. I would
therefore ask you to give all the time you can to
these volumes which like a messenger eonvey my
words to you ; your time is in your own hands.
If I find you take pleasure in this branch of know-
ledge, I shall speak to you of it soon, I hope, in
person ; tili then, in writing. Farewell, my dear
son ; be assured of my love : but I will love you
still more if you take delight in these lessons and
precepts.

191

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Allen (J. RonüllyX F. S.A. See Antiquary's

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Alnuck (B.)i F.S.A. See Little Books on

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EXERCICES DE GRAMMAIRE FRAN-
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Anon. HEALTH, WEALTH, AND WIS-
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Aristotle. THE ETHICS OF. Edited.
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Asman (H. N.X M.A., U.D. See Junior
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Atklns(H. O.). See Oxford Biogiaphies.

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*Atklnson (C. T.), M.A., Fellow of Exeter
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Atklnson (T. D.). ENGLISH ARCHI
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A GLOSSARY OF TERMS USED IN
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General Literature

Audea (T.), &L A . B\S. A See AxKient Cities.

AurelliM (ManAu). WORDS OF THE
ANCIENT WISE. Thoughts from Epic-
tetos and Marcus Aurelius. Edited by
W. H. D. RousK, M.A., Litt. D. Fcap.
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